Capoeira is a traditional Afro-Brazilian dance that developed during the days of slavery. The men and women stolen from their homes developed this martial art as a dance to disguise that this was an actual fighting technique. Nowadays it is still practiced throughout Brazil and in other countries as well, like the US. The two kinds that I know of are Angolan, in which the movements tend to be lower to the ground, the dancers--or players--are barefoot and where the "uniform" of white pants. They traditionally ask "permission" to play from the musical instruments, which include berimbau, atabaque, and pandeiro. The other kind of capoeira is regional, and this is more street capoeira, from my understanding. The players where shoes, street clothes, and don´t necessarily go through the ritual of asking permission.

These pictures are from the Manginga school of capoeira, where they were practicing regional. Ok, I really don´t know the difference between these two, but there are a few other students here in the program who are really into it. As you can see the movements are very acrobatic and you can see the instruments in the background. I wish I could upload the movies I took but I would be sitting here for a few hours waiting.

This is me contemplating the Pelourinho.