This weekend

was pretty damn cool. On Saturday, I attended this crazy capoeira fundraiser/dance party in NYC - big thanks to Pezinho for the ride and fat beats at the party! We helped set up, and it was pretty dead at first, but I went for a walk with some of the guys from my class and when we came back, things were a little better. Finally, the lights went out and everyone got on the dance floor. I must have danced for three hours, with breaks to let my ears rest - that shit was LOUD! I was wishing Emily was there so she could tear it up on the floor. I ended up dancing in a circle with the folks that came down from RPI and this woman Vaquera, who I later found out gave Furacao a place to stay when he was bumming it in Brazil. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The last 45 minutes or so of the party was a giant roda, which is when everyone gets in a circle, claps, and sings capoeira songs, while two people "fight" in the middle, or, as we say, play the game of capoeira. It was INTENSE. First of all, the roda was huge - there must have been about a hundred people in the circle, with about half actually capoeiras. Second of all, most of the people there were really good. I guess the group in NYC trains harder or more often or something, cause everyone there seems to be ripped and better than us. Could be they've just been around longer.

Anyway, capoeira's speed is dictated by the music - in a roda, there is at least one person playing the berimbau, and maybe drums and such - this roda had two berimbaus, a conga drum, and an agogo (cowbells). Furacao, who is the leader of NYC Abada, was playing the berimbau and singing, along with our instructor Pezinho and some of Fura's friends. He had a mic, which was needed, cause when we sang the responses (capoeira songs are call and response), we were a force to be heard!

I was gonna go in while it was slow, in the beginning, but I was too intimidated. My friend Zaid went in, and got kicked in the jaw cause he wasn't watching the other guy (or maybe girl - can't remember). The tempo sped up in segments - the first 15 minutes were mid-tempo, then the next faster, and so on - until it was sao bento grande, which is the fastest variety of capoeira. It's also the flashiest, cause all that speed converts into lots of momentum. I thought it was intimidating before, but I had never seen a game of sao bento grande - there were guys pulling back handsprings to backflips, and kicks were flying so fast it was crazy.

Furacao finally called a halt, and then talked a bit. It's the third annual fundraiser, and he sincerely thanked his friends and family, one by one, for coming and putting the thing together, and gave bits of background on the people who we had seen in the roda and on the dance floor. We cheered and clapped for everyone he named, and I felt the warmth and energy from the group. So much goodwill comes from capoeira! Plus amazing sociopolitical mixing - I wouldn't have been hanging out with some of those people if it hadn't been for capoeira, and it was awesome! I am inspired to train harder now, and get deeper into the culture. Seems like it sucks you in, but I think it's a good thing to be sucked into - some great opportunities here and a deep meaning and community that seems to be lacking in most of the U.S. today.

Gotta run to class now - catch y'all on the flip side! If you wanna find out more about capoeira, you can check out the Abada NY page, or just Google capoeira - there's lots of info out there! I know there's a few capoeira groups in Seattle, for those of you reading back home who wanna get involved. Totally sweet!

p.s. thanks to Marc and Steph, I have discovered this BRILLIANT webcomic - Perry Bible Fellowship. Here's a taste:

The beauty of it is the extreme diversity of illustration styles, plus the fresh and twisted humor. Check it.

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Dig:

Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children