Blame it in on the Canjiquinha Quente

  

What does a capoeira mestre have to do with Carmen Miranda? Read this passage about Mestre Canjiquinha from the book “Capoiera Angola - Ensaio Sócio Etnografico” by Waldeloir Rego to find out:

Canjiquinha (Washington Bruno da Silva) was born in Salvador on September 25, 1925. He was a student of the famous capoeista Raimundo Aberrê, from Santo Amaro de Purificação.

In regards to his knickname, he explains that is was given to him by his friend named Dálton Barros, in 1938 because of a samba-batuque called Canjiquniha quente, written by Roberto Martins, sung by Carmen Miranda with the band

Conjunto Regional de Benedtio Larcerda, and recorded by Odeon in 1937… and this was the only thing that he knew how to sing, which he would do constantly. And for this his friend took the initiative to give him this knickname.

Canjiquniha is young and agile, he is a talented singer and musician. He sings like few others and with a vast repertoire and even has a great facility for improvising, and of all, it is he who has most contributed to the adaptation of other types of songs into the folklore of capoeira. Many of the songs mentioned in this book were collected from Canjiquinha.

Of all the Bahian capoeiristas, he was the most invited to participate in exhibitions, trips around Brazil, and he even acted in the movies, in both short and feature length films… As a mestre de capoeira, he worked on the feature films: “Os Bandeirantes”, “Barravento”, “O Pagador de Promessas”, “Senhor dos Navegantes”, “Samba”, and many short films.

Careful with the songs that get stuck in your head! You may just end up with a new capoeira knickname.
  

Build your Own Archive: The "Velha Guarda" According to Rego

   

“Capoiera Angola - Ensaio Sócio Etnografico” written by Brazilian ethnologist Waldeloir Rego and published in 1968 is one of the seminal studies regarding the art form and one of the most important documents that exists today about capoeira.

The book is packed with a lot of information about capoeira, including the history of capoeira, the origin of the word and basics about the instruments played, but perhaps most interesting to us capoeiristas is the long compilation of songs and the following discussion about the capoeiristas mentioned in each song, from the chapter “Famous Capoeiras and their Behaviour in the Social Community".

We've already published his writings about Mestre Joao Grande. Here is what Rego had to say about some other capoeiras of the time:

Pedro Mineiro was well-known among the capoeiristas… Also making a name in Bahia were Chico da Barra, Ajé, Chico Cazumbá, Ricardo das Docas, Antônio Maré, Zé Bom Pé, Vitorino Braço Torto, Raimundo Cachoeira, Zacaria Grande, Nôzinho, Bilusca, Piroca Peixoto, Zé do Saco, Samual da Calçada, Sete Mortes, Aberrê, Patu das Pedreiras, Hilário Chapeleiro, Cassiano Balão, Bigode de Sêda, Doze Homens, Tiburcinho de Jaguaripe, Zeca Cidade de Palha, Nô da Emprêsa de Carruagem, Pacífico do Rio Vermelho, Bichiguinha, Chico Me Dá, Edgar Chicharro, Inimigo Sem Tripa, Giote, Neco Canário Pardo, Bôca de Porco, Dendê, Gazolina, Espinho, Dadá e Siri de Mangue.

Pedro Porreta became a synonymous with disorder and bullying. When I was a young boy, I heard many older people speak of this capoeira and when a child was difficult and liked to beat up the other children, they would reprimand him by asking whether he was Pedro Porreta.

Canjiquinha (Wasington Bruno da Silva) told me that Chico Três was an enemy of another capoeirista called Matatu. One day, he set a trap for his enemy. He hid around the corner of Rua do Engenho Velho, right at the entrance for those who were going to Boa Vista mansion, today known as the São João de Deus asylum, and when Matatu approached, distracted, he stabbed him in the chest, put the knife hit his clavicle, breaking it into three pieces. Matuto escaped death and the other became known as Chico Três Pedaços.

Najé was another famous capoeirista from Coqueiro de Paraguaçu, but because he liked to go the city of Najé, this became his knickname. He was also close with people who practiced candomblé, so much so that when they saw him they used to joke, singing:

Najé
Najé, Najé
Ogun Já orô!

This song relates to Ogun Já, an aspect of Ogun whose principle characteristic is the sacrifice of dogs, a rare practice, whose processes and songs differ from the rest, although here I do not have the space to go into further detail.

How did the people in your group get their knicknames? Hopefully in a less dramatic and painful way than Chico Três Pedaços.

This book is actually out-of-print and very difficult to find. There are some downloadable versions out there. If you do come across a hardcover copy, protect it with all your pieces, as it is an important part of our heritage.

We'll present more about the "velha guarda" of capoeira from this great book in the future.
   

Build Your Own Archive: Afro-Latin America, 1800 - 2000

  
The book "Afro-Latin America, 1800 -2000" by George Reid Andrews is an excellent overview of the history of the African Diaspora in Latin America, including the Caribbean. While it seems like an impossible task to succinctly cover such an immense subject, the author does a superb job examining and presenting major, overarching historical themes - such as the wars of independence, the institutional policy of “whitening” the population, and the oppression of blacks - and then applying specific examples from the different countries of Latin American and the Caribbean, comparing and contrasting results and consequences.

Brazil, with the largest population of African descendents in the area, gets much attention in the book, and the author talks about capoeira as well as other African traditions, including samba, that came to be defined as essential to the cultures of the countries of Latin America.

Here is a little of what Andrews has to say about capoeira:

This was the martial art of capoeira, a combination of dance and kick-boxing based on Angolan antecedents and developed into a distinctly New World discipline and aesthetic by African slaves. The term and the phenomenon first appeared in Brazilian documents in the 1770s. By the 1790s and early 1800s, capoeiristas were organizing themselves into the maltas, or gangs, that became as much a part of nineteenth-century urban life in Brazil…


… the capoeira gangs were entirely male and based on rigorous codes of secrecy and loyalty to the group. Betrayal of the code meant harsh punishment, up to and including death… capoeira was closely tied to seaports and the sea...


… capoeira gangs in Rio de Janeiro sought to acquire control over the hiring of dockworkers in the port. Frustrated in their effort, they turned to protection rackets and other forms of criminal activity, dividing the city into small fiefdoms and fighting violent turf wars against each other. The gangs somewhat rehabilitated their public image in 1828, when they joined forces with the army to defeat a mutiny by German and Irish mercenaries. During the second half of the century they sought to establish patron-client ties with powerful protectors by hiring themselves out as bodyguards and “enforcers” of important politicians and businessmen. But… the violence of the intergang struggles provoked intensifying police repression and the eventual outlawing in 1890 of “the exercise of agility and corporal dexterity known as capoeira.”

and later in the book:

Brazilian authorities undertook a similar war against capoeira, which was outlawed by federal statute in 1890. In Rio de Janeiro, police arrested more than 600 suspected capoeiristas and sent them to the penal colony on the far offshore island of Fernando de Noronha. Organized capoeira gangs were eliminated from the capital, and from all Brazilian cities except Salvador, where police repression continued through the 1920s and 1930s. According to elderly practitioners of the sport, the police would tie captured capoeiristas to horses and drag them through the streets at full gallop back to police headquarters. As a result, they jokingly recall, they always practiced near police stations so that, if arrested, they would be dragged a shorter distance.

This book is packed with interesting information. We will present more relevant finds in the future.

"Afro-Latin America 1800-2000" is available in the FICA-DC Archives library thanks to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
   

Remembering M Pastinha on His Birthday

  
On this day in 1889, Vicente Ferreira de Pastinha was born. He would have been 121 years old today. His spirits lives on in rodas held in his honor around the world today (and truly, every day).

In this wonderful excerpt from the book “Capoiera Angola - Ensaio Sócio Etnografico” written by the anthropologist and folklorist Waldeloir Rego, the author quotes a passage written by Jorge Amado, who talks about his dear friend Mestre Pastinha:

In the lovely and opportune chronicle, “Conversa com Buanga Fêlê, also known as Mário de Andrade, War Lord of Angola”, Jorge Amado returns to talk about Pastinha in this passage:

“I see myself leaning out a window of an old mansion in the Largo do Pelourinho and an older man, older than seventy years, with dimming eyesight, small and agile like a cat, is by my side and talks to me. We are old friends. I don’t even remember anymore when it was that we met and that I began accompanying his glorious trajectory.

This is one the mestres of popular Bahian culture, this black man with a soft voice and a happy face that has aged within his academy of Capoeira de Angola. He dancdes and fights better than any of the youngsters with hard adolescent muscles. I speak of Mestre Pastinha, one of the greatest capoeiristas that Bahia has produced. He is just finishing dancing a samba de Angola and is preparing himself to fight.

- Here – he tells me – I practice the true capoeira de Angola and here men learn to be loyal and just. The law of Angola, that I inherited from my grandparents, is the law of loyalty.

The berimbaus play their ritual music, calling the fighters. Mestre Pastinha fills the room with his presence, his agility, his halluncinating dance. Capoeira de Angola, the Brazilian fight of excellence.”

Pastinha is truly one of the great figures of popular life in Bahia. Of all the capoeiristas, he was the one that traveled the most to do presentations with his school, and he was one of the few to cross the Atlantic to the African continent as part of the delegation invited by the Brazilian Minister of External Relations to present at the Premier Festival International des Arts Nègres, in Dakar, in April of 1966.

Happy birthday, Mestre Pastinha!
  

Happy Birthday, M João Grande!

  
Today, January 15, is the birthday of Mestre João Grande, icon of Capoeira Angola and Brazilian culture the world over. Even in 1968 he was already cited as a significant figure in the Capoeira Angola community. In his book, Ensaio Sócio Etnografico Brazilian ethnologist Waldeloir Rego wrote about João Grande, among other capoeiras of the time, in the book’s chapter, “Famous Capoeiras and their Behaviour in the Social Community”.

João Grande (José Oliveira dos Santos) is the young capoeira who knows the most about tricks of attack and defense, which coupled with an extraordinary corporal flexibility, has turned him into one of the most agile capoeiras in Bahia. When he is playing, he is like a great dancer. Canjiquinha, for example, after making various eloquent references about João Grande, offered a typical poetic sentiment, “Foi Deus quem mandou João Grande jogar capoeira” (“It was God who called João Grande to play capoeira”)

Wonderful!

Happy birthday, Mestre!!

There will be a roda and party at Mestre’s space in New York City this Sunday. If you are in the area, don’t miss this great event.
  

Salvador, Brazil: Book Drop this Friday

  
Book Drop: Capoeira, Identidade e Gênero: Ensaios sobre a história social da Capoeira no Brasil (Capoeira, Identity and Gender: Essays on the social history of capoeira in Brazil) by Josivaldo Pires de Oliveira and Luiz Augusto Pinheiro Leal

Friday, December 4, 2009
Biblioteca Central da UFBA, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, s/n, Campus de Ondina, Salvador – BA
Retail: R$ 30,00
Special Offer (available only at release event): R$ 25,00
  

Remembering M Pastinha on November 13

    

Mestre Pastinha passed away on this day (November 13) in 1981 in the city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

Let us remember him and celebrate his memory today - and every day - in our rodas and trainings all over the world. He lived his life to preserve what we enjoy today.

Here is a little memory of Pastinha, written by his great friend, the famous Bahian author, Jorge Amado. This comes from Amado's Bahia de Todos os Santos, a unique tour book of the city of Salvador that was published in 1941. Enjoy!

Mestre Vincente Pastinha is more than seventy years old. He is a small light-skinned man, of frightening agility, and uncommon strength. When he begins to “play”, everyone watching thinks, that poor old man with frizzy white hair will fall down in two minutes, knocked over by a young adversary or lack of his own breath. But, oh! There is much more to him than meets the eye! None of this happens. The adversaries come, one after the other, one young man, then another, then another, students or friends of Pastinha, and he beats them all and never tires, he never loses his breath, not even when he dances the “samba of Angola”.

The Escola de Capoeira Angola of Mestre Pastinha, is located on the ladeira do Pelourinho, in the square, on the first floor. From Thursday to Sunday they “play” in the school. But usually on Thursdays, the game is weaker, it is the new students who are training. On Sunday, the well-known capoeiristas come and the party starts in the afternoon.

If you visit Bahia, you should not miss the extraordinary show that is Mestre Pastinha playing capoeira to the sounds of the berimbau in the center of his school. And when he is not playing, he does not rest. He takes a berimbau and leads the singing. For me, Pastinha is one of the important figures of popular life in Bahia. It is imperative to meet him, to talk to him, to listen to his stories, and above all, to see him “playing”, confronting young and vigorous adversaries and knocking them down one by one…

… we should talk about the School of Waldemar, on the Liberdade Highway, where, beyond meeting the mestre of the school, you will meet Traia, a thin, quiet caboclo, made of muscle, a great mestre of capoeira. To watch him play is truly an aesthetic pleasure. He looks like a dancer and only Pastinha himself can compete with him in the beauty of his movement, in agility, in the speed of his blows. When Traia cannot be found at Waldemar’s school, he is nearby at the School of Sete Molas, also in Liberdade. At these schools, the visitor can acquire lovely berimbaus, helping in the development of our national fight…

… But oh! I hope that you never get into a fight with one of these capoeiristas, because however strong you may be, I would not bet on you to win because I am certain that in one minute you would be laid out on the floor, at the disposition of a shining razor blade…

You may however become friends with either one of these and watch a presentation. These capoeiristas are very fine people…

Ie! Viva Pastinha!
    

Rio de Janeiro: Capoeira Book Release

Dear Friends,

We invite you all to participate this Saturday, October 31 in a unique event that will unite the literature, capoeira, and samba communities.

All in one place:Livraria Largo das Letras e Federação dos Trabalhadores Cristãos do Rio de Janeiro.

Mauricio Barros de Castro (one of the event organizers) will be autographing his book, Capoeira, a collection of interviews with Mestres past and present, all true references of this Afro-Brazilian tradition.

There will be a roda with Grupo N'Golo (Mestre Jose Carlos) that will include the presence of mestres, contramestres, and many capoeiristas from the Carioca capoeira community who will be at the event. We will close the event in grand style with a Samba de Raiz do "Samba do Chapeu".

It will be worth it!
Mestre Carlão

Azougue Editorial & Livraria Largo das Letras
invites you to

The release of the book –
CAPOEIRA

Organization
Frede Abreu
Maurício Barros de Castro

Schedule of Events
- traditional capoeira roda with Grupo de Capoeira Angola N’golo
- samba do chapéu
- release of book

Dia 10/31/2009
11 am – 5 pm

Place: Livraria Largo das Letras
Rua Almirante Alexandrino,
Largo dos Guimarães – Santa Teresa
Tel: 2221-8992
website

Caixa Pregos, Bahia, Brazil: Semeando 2010 (já!)

SEMEANDO 2010

In commemoration of 20 years of struggle and resistance, the Grupo Semente do Jogo de Angola will be hosting the VII International Capoeira Angola Encounter in Salvador and on the island of Caixa Pregos, Bahia, in 2010.

It will also be the inauguration of the home of the group on the island of Caixa Prega and the release of the book “Jogo de Angola – Mestre Jogo de Dentro, Vida e Obra”.

Beyond this, there will be capoeira angola, samba de roda, percussion, and afro-dance workshops as well as video screenings.

There will be various mestres, friends and those responsible for each affiliate of the group present at the event.

Date: December 26, 2010 – January 10, 2011

Schedule of events

Contact number:(55) (71) 8727-7127
contato (at) sementedojogodeangola (dot) org (dot) br
Blog of Grupo Semente do Jogo de Angola

payment options

Not a Woman or Priest Among Them

Long before youtube, great capoeira memories were remembered. In a few rare instances, games were put to paper, and the below is a good example, from the book City of Women by Ruth Landes. The book is a spectacular primary resource about Salvador, Bahia in the 1930s. The language and some of the ideas are dated, but it gives excellent descriptions of Salvador, its people, and the way life was back in the day.

Here is a bit about a capoeira roda that Landes saw in the street with her friend and companion, the anthropolgist and intellectual, Edison Carneiro:

We arrived at the spot where the men were forming for capoeira. Watchers were crowded four deep around a wide circle, and there was not a women or priest among them. To one side of the innermost ring stood three tall Negroes, each holding a berimbau with one end resting on the ground. Two more musicians soon came- one with a chocalho, or metal rattle, and the other with a pandeiro or tambourine. Edison and the others helped push me front, and we were glad of the diversion.

Two capoeirists were squatting there, facing the musicians. One was the champion Querido de Deus (Beloved of God), with the Christian name of Samuel. He was tall, black, middle-aged and muscular, a fisherman by trade. His challenger was the Black Leopard, a younger man, shorter and fatter. They were barefooted, wearing striped cotton jersey shirts, one with white trousers, the other with dark, one with a felt hat, the other with a cap which he later changed to a hard straw hat. Squatting in their hats and bare feet, one had his left arm on his left thigh, the other had his right arm on his right thigh, and the stared straight, resting. It was required of them to keep silent, and the requirement carried over to the audience.

The orchestra opened the events by strumming an invocation, and this monotonous accompaniment too was essential to the occasion. It was a sort of whining, nasal-toned framework within which the men executed acrobatic marvels, always to the correct beat, while the musicians chanted mocking verses:

I stood at the foot of the cross
Saying my prayer
When there arrived Catherine
The very image of the Devil.

Eh, eh, Ah-Rhuanda!
Missy, let's go away!
To beyond the sea!

It's a sharp knife,
Missy, it's for piercing
Missy, throw it to this side
Missy, throw it to that side.

Eh, eh, long live my master
And my mistress, who taught me!
Mester, leave me to the vagrant life!
Missy, to the capoeira life!

Missy, may the earth revole!
Master, may the world go on!"

It was song of challenge and hope and resignation, containing fragments of rebellious thoughts. It did not possess a simple theme well worked out, but it summarized a type of life and of protest, And it opened the fight.

Querido de Deus swayed on his haunches while he faced his opponent with a grin and gauged his chances. The fight involved all parts of the body except the hands, a precaution demanded by the police to obviate harm. As the movement followed the musical accompaniment, they flowed into a slow-motion, dream-like sequence that was more a dancing than a wrestling. As the law stipulated that capoeirists must not hurt each other, blows become acrobatic stances whose balancing scored in the final check-up, and were named and classified. Various types of capoeira had evolved, with subtleties in the forms and sequences of the blows and in the styles of playing ther berimbau.

Querido de Deus was prodigiously agile in the difficult formal encounters with his adversary, and he smiled constantly while the ritual songs droned on:

They told me wife
That a capoeira man had conquered me,
The woman swore, and stamped her foot dowm firm
That this could not have been.

And the berimbaus changed again:

There was I. Oh! There was my brother,
There was my brother and I.
My brother rented a house
But neither he paid, nor I!

Impertintently, with slow, calculated, beautiful movements, Querido de Deus butted his adversary with his hated head, catching him lightly in the pit of the stomach, upsetting his so that he fell on his head. Thereupon the orchestra struck up triumphantly:

Zum-zum-zum
Capoeira kills one!

The cutting knife is bad
Prepare your stomach to catch it

The challenging echoes silenced, the round was over, the two men walked and trotted restfully in a counter-clockwise circle, one behind the other, the champion leading with his arms high in the air, the other grasping his wrists from behind while the orchestra played and sang teasingly:

In the days when I had money
My comrade called me kin
After my money was gone
My comrade scorned me as bold.

Gradually, having rested, the one in the front wheeled to face the other one behind, and they parried to the beat of the songs, never still, balancing from one foot to the other, watching for openings.

Comrade, attention!
Capoeira goes at you!

warned the berimbaus. The two faced each other, Querido de Deus swaying, Leopard backing away, always rhythmically. As Querido de Deus advanced, bending from the waist, lowering his head for the telling blow at the other's middle, Leopard curved forward intending to evade him.

Actually he created an opening into which Querido de Deus charged with his right leg, his left one stretched parallel with the ground supporting him. Leopard's arm swung back loosely, and he fell forward over the butting head in a clean arc. Laughing quietly in appreciation, the two rose, loping in circles to relax while the orchestra applauded:

Lo, is a messenger from the king!
He is from Ruanda!
What can one do with capoeira?
He is an African sorcerer
And he knows how to play.

They sparred again, and again Querido de Deus was the one to attack, half squatting as in a Russian dance, swaying, arms curved forward for balance. Instead of following through with his head as before, he worked to one side and suddenly raised up his body. Leopard bent to charge, but Querido de Deus swung his weight to his right leg and cleared his opponent's head with his left, causing him once more to fall sprawling!

Now another insisted upon entering the ring. He had attempted to do so earlier but he had been ignored. Impatiently he pushed Leopard aside, pointing indignantly to the corner where scorekeepers were chalking the points on the ground, points Leopard failed to make. And sulkily Leopard yielded his place.

The hero Querido de Deus wiped his streaming face and back, and bared his head to cool it. Through everything the onlookers remained silent, only shuffling to ease their positions and inner excitement. Soon the bows whined in invocation for the new round:

Who taught thee this good magic?
It was the mistress' boy.
The the boy costs good money.
Good money needs to be earned.

Fall, fall Catarina,
Rise from the sea, come see Dalina.

Tomorrow is a holy day,
Day of Corpus Christi.
He who has clothes goes to mass.
He who has none does- as I do!

Fall, fall
Catarina…

To me this was a performance incongruous and wonderful; to the others it was wonderful and completely absorbing. To then it was right. But the phrases startled me into conjectures about slavery, rebellion and mockery, and I was astounded most at the manner of the performance, which robbed capoeira of its original sting. The police had removed the sting, and the blacks had converted the remains into a weird, poignant dance. Did the songs carry meaning to the people now? Did they recall the struggles that inspired them, or did they merely dramatize black men, as candomblé dramatized black women? The rows of watchers were still, their faces were impassive.

Again, the challenger and the champion began to trot with knees bent, arms swinging loose, Querido de Deus amusing himself with intricate little movements of his feet. Suddenly a boy jumped into the center of the ring flourishing a pot of money. He had just made the rounds with his hat requesting contributions for the fighters; and the orchestra, which rules the occasion, has deiced that instead of apportioning the money, it should be left to a new pair to try for with their mouths, each fending off the other à la capoeira. The boy announced this decision and placed the pot on the ground while the berimbaus teased:

Would you play with a capoeira?
He is a tricky devil…

And Querido de Deus won! But with the heart of a champion he returned the pot to open the struggle again:

Now you can play!

This time the newcomer won. The crowd broke up, painfully uncomfortable under the blistering two o'clock sun…

Learn more about Ruth Landes here.

Have you come across something that you would like to share with the capoeira community? Send it to us: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com.

War Songs of the Nagoas and the Guaiamuns

The following bit comes from the June-July- August 1996 edition of the Brazilian newsletter Capoeirando:

A musical relic from the last century

In the Toque de Berimbau [musical section of newsletter] the first registration of the musicality of capoeira in the 19th century: a song of challenge between the two great capoeira groups: the Nagoas and the Guaiamuns.

The Guaiamuns sang:

Terezinha de Jesus
Abre a porta e apaga a luz
Quero ver morrer Nagoa
Na porta do Bom Jesus

And the Nagoas responded:

O castelo içou bandeira
São Francisco repicou
Gaiamum está reclamando
Manuel Preto já chegou

These were part of a capoeira song and were registered by Plácido de Abreu in his book Os Capoeiras* in 1886 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The author called it a "tune" and it reveals the conflict between the two groups in the 19th century: the Gaiamuns and the Nagoas. These groups were divided into various factions based on city neighborhoods.

Today, these "tunes" have significant historic value as they confirm the presence of music in the conflicts as well as the name of the capoeira groups, and they reveal the presence of Manoel Preto, who was then one of the leaders of the Nagoas.

Interpreting this “tune” we can understand a little better the culture of capoeira of the maltas [gangs] of the 19th century. This song is the oldest registration of musicality related to the practice of capoeira.

*ABREU, Plácido de. Os Capoeiras Rio de Janeiro. Tip. Escola Seraphim Alves de Brito 1886. p. 03

In her book The Hidden History of Capoeira, author Maya Talmon-Chvaicer offers further insight into the song, including a translation:

Documents and illustrations from the early nineteenth century bear witness that musical instruments were played during the capoeira game, but no description of songs is provided. It is only toward the end of the century that various sources mention songs connected to capoeira. Abreu wrote that before rival capoeira groups got into a fight they would challenge their rivals with songs like the one the Gaiamus sang:

Terezinha de Jesus
Open the door and turn off the light
I want to see dead Nagoa
At Bom Jesus' door

The rival team would answer:

The fortress raised a flag
São Francisco answered with a drum beating
Guaiamu is complaining
Manuel Preto has shown up.

Manuel Preto was the Santana group leader's nickname and put the fear of God into his enemies' hearts. The Nagoas used images that belonged to their spiritual world. The flag, as described above, was used to communicate with the world of the dead. This is evident in the flag waving during funerals. São Francisco, a Catholic saint, used a drumbeat to overcome the Guaiamu. Africans compared their deities to the Catholic saints and worshipped them while hiding their African deities behind Catholic ones. Saint Francis was syncretized with the orixá Orunmila, the great benefactor of humanity and its principal adviser. He reveals the future through the secret of Ifa, the supreme oracle. He is considered a great healer. The drums warn against imminent danger but also communicate with other worlds and possess supernatural powers that infuse Manuel Preto with such strength that the "Gaiamu is complaining".

The Guaiamu were influenced mainly by Christianity, which is evident in their challenging song and their use of the names Therezinha (little Saint Theresa) and Jesus and the images "open the door and turn off the light", signifying the notion of extinguishing the life of the Nagoa and opening the doors of heaven for his soul. Songs used as challenge were widespread in the Yoruban cultures in the context of war. They had remarkable psychological influence. Evoking the memory of extolled victories, eminent warriors, spirits, and ancestral fathers that help in the war effort, songs were supposed to cheer up fighters and frighten their enemy. As Yoruban culture was very influential among the enslaved population from the mid-nineteenth century onward and as the Capoeiras were increasingly associated with belligerence, we can see why the ritual challenge was connected to song in the late nineteenth century. These songs were soon categorized as "war songs".

Both the book and the newsletter are packed with information about capoeira. We will be posting more from each in the upcoming months.

If you have something you would like to share with the community, please send it to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com

Build Your Own Archives: Mandinga, Manha & Malícia

Torpedeira Piauí
Coraçada na Bahia
Marinheiro absoluto
Chegou pintando arrelia
Quando vê cobra assanhada
Não mete o pé na rodia
Que a cobra assanhada morde
Se eu fosse a cobra eu mordia
Mataram Pedro Mineiro
Dentro da Secretaria

Adriana Albert Dias, a.k.a Pimentinha in the rodas of Salvador, is the author of the book Mandinga, Manha & Malícia: uma história sobre os capoeiras na capital da Bahia (1910-1925). It is a work that grew out of her masters thesis in history with the Federal University of Bahia.

Pimentinha does an excellent job documenting life in Salvador during this time, examining where the capoeiristas lived, with who they spent their time, what jobs they performed, and how they interacted with the authorities. Through her careful research of primary sources, journal articles, and interviews with people who lived during this time, she shows us how capoeiristas used mandinga and cunning in their everyday dealings as well as in capoeira rodas- and how this permeated the practice of capoeira, from its play to its songs and rhythms.

The above ladainha opens the chapter of the book that examines the life and times of the famous Pedro Mineiro. Here’s a bit of what Pimentinha writes about him:

He was not a native of the state of Bahia, having been born around 1887 in the city of Ouro Preto, in the state of Minas Gerais, because of this he was known by the knickname Pedro Mineiro. When he was around 20 years old he was already living in Salvador; he knew how to read and write, he lived in the Pilar neighborhood, and he worked as a porter and seaman. He was known among the authorities due to his bullying behavior and his exploits around the city of Salvador. His name often appeared in the police column of the Bahian newspapers, being referred to as thief, troublemaker, criminal, and celebrity rabble-rouser. The main stage of his adventures was the Cais Dourado, but he also often visited the “27 of Tabuão” and Galinho’s Bar. He caused trouble with all sorts of people; other capoeiras, women, troublemakers, regular folks, sailors, and principally, the police.

One of his many exploits inspired the above ladainha. In what became known as the “crime of Saldanha” (o crime do Saldanha, because it happened on Rua do Saldanha), Pedro Mineiro and some of his buddies confronted a group of sailors:

On December 26, another shoot-out occurred between some capoeiras and a group of soldiers from the torpedo boat, Piauhy that had arrived from Rio de Janeiro three months before. The scene of the trouble was Galinho’s Bar, where the sailors were eating dinner when they were attacked by the capoeiras Pedro Mineiro, Sebastião de Souza, and an individual named Antônio José Freire, also known as Branco…

… The shoot-out lasted about fifteen minutes, causing a huge commotion and much panic. All of the bars, stores, warehouses, and residences in the area closed their doors and windows. In the fighting, two sailors were killed…

The rest of the sailors, all wounded, escaped and made their way back to the boat. Pedro Mineiro, Sebastião, and Branco tried to flee through the streets of Sé, but were captured by the police and by-standers, and then taken to the nearest police station and from there transferred to the Secretary of Public Safety.

No one knows for certain what drove Pedro Mineiro and his friends to go after the sailors; was it a fight over a woman? Did the local police chief contract the capoeiristas to attack the sailors to avenge a past slight? In any case, a few days following the fight, there was a public inquisition of the three capoeiristas at the Secretary of Public Security. While they were answering questions about the attack:

… the unthinkable happened: one of the Piauhy sailors, feeling insulted, shot Pedro Mineiro right inside the police headquarters, in front of the authorities. As such, the accused, Pedro Mineiro, also became a victim with serious wounds...

Apparently, the attack provoked enormous confusion, with more than twenty police soldiers, sailors, justice officials, and the deputy falling over themselves in the rush, a situation which allowed for the escape of Branco and Sebastião… [Sebastião] was chased by a sailor until the Rua da Faísca, where he was stabbed so deeply in the back that his kidneys were reached.

It seems that Branco made a successful escape. The sailors involved were not taken into custody because they were subject to maritime law, and therefore, it was the responsibility of their captain to decide their fate.

The attack on Pedro Mineiro and Sebastião made headlines in the local papers, and the city was kept abreast of Pedro Mineiro’s deteriorating condition. In the meantime, the police chief and the captain of the Piauhy exchanged angry letters accusing each other of incompetence. After a thwarted attempt at suicide, reported in the local papers, Pedro Mineiro succumbed to his wounds and died on January 15.

Pedro José Viera passed away at the Saint Isabel Hospital due to a bullet that was impossible to remove from his body… He was 27 years old, and was buried in the Quinta dos Lázaros cemetery.

And there you have it. A significant story in capoeira history thanks to the efforts of Pimentinha.

This is a great book that is packed full of information. Its written in Portuguese, but don't be intimidated if your Portuguese is not perfect. Pimentinha has written in a very readable style that is easy on the brain. You are going to be amazed at all the great information that Pimentinha provides through her thorough research.

"I'm the little animals!": Mestre Pastinha & Pedro Porreta

     
One more (last one!) story from Mestre Bola Sete’s book, A Capoeira Angola na Bahia. This one tells the story of Mestre Pastinha, who is Mestre Bola Sete’s teacher, and Pedro Celestino dos Santos, a.k.a. Pedro Porreta, one of the most famous valentões in Salvador of the first half of the twentieth century.

Mestre Pastinha came face-to-face with the dangerous capoeirista Pedro Porreta, who was well-known in Bahia for his aggressive manner and for the innumerable troubles he caused, causing him to confront the famous Chief of the Police Squadron, Pedro Azevedo Gordilho, better known as “Pedrito”. From then on, he was continuously persecuted by the squadron, who were never able to catch him.

It all started when Pedro Porreta went to live in a hut close to the Rua das Laranjeiras, where Mestre Pastinha owned a small market stall. There was a misunderstanding between the two, that turned into a violent fight, that after many blows from both sides, ended in a victory for Mestre Pastinha. He considered it his most difficult fight. “A good boy,” Mestre told me when I asked him about the capacity of his adversary in the street fight.

Mestre Pastinha had gone to the fair to buy bananas, leaving his wife in charge of the stall, when Pedro Porreta, who did not know that the stand belonged to Mestre Pastinha, arrived. Upon entering, he asked for a half dozen bananas.

- We don’t have any, my husband went to get some just now at the fair, responded the mestre’s wife.

Pedro Porreta was about to leave when he spied four bananas on top of the counter, and he turned and inquired:

- And those four bananas over there, who do they belong to?

- Those are for the little animals! said the mestre’s wife, pointing to a cage with two birds.

Pedro Porreta stepped forward, grabbed the bananas and left, saying:

- I am the little animals!

Upon returning from the fair, Mestre Pastinha entered the stall and put the basket of bananas on the floor. His wife told him what had happened. When she finished the story, the mestre left immediately to find the stranger. As he walked into the street, he met his friend who had seen everything and revealed the identity and the address of the individual. The mestre thanked him and proceeded to the house of Pedro Porreta, meeting him at the door.

Pedro Porreta did not suspect that Mestre Pastinha was the owner of the stall, and greeted him nicely, “How goes it, mestre? What would you like?” Upon learning that Mestre Pastinha was the owner of the stall and that he had come looking for an explanation as to what had transpired, Pedro Porreta opened the door, let loose a laugh, and pointed at the bananas cooking in a pan. Mestre Pastinha, noting Pedro Porreta’s mocking expression, turned to him and said, “Pedro, I am taking these bananas, if only because you invaded my stall in my absence and made fun of my wife.”

Upon hearing this, Pedro Porreta ran out into the middle of the street and challenged Mestre Pastinha to a fight.

Mestre Pastinha accepted the challenge and the fight went on for a few minutes, as no bystanders had the courage to separate them. The fight only ended with a violent cabeçada by Mestre Pastinha that threw Pedro Porreta far out onto the street. At this moment, a man who lived nearby came up and after asking about the fight, offered to pay the cost of the bananas provided that the two ended the dispute. Mestre Pastinha did not accept the man’s money, telling him, “My friend, I appreciate your kindness, but my argument with Pedro was not over the cost of the four bananas, but the way in which he handled the situation.” Saying this, he retired to his stall. Pedro Porreta moved out of his hut the next day.

Mestre Bola Sete's book has even more stories that regale the reader with the adventures of Mestre Pastinha (in Portuguese). You will really enjoy reading them all, and its a great book to include in your group's archives.

In the future, we'll be posting more about the famous Pedro Porreta.
     

Edison Carneiro: Os Moleques de Sinhá na Bahia

Edison Carneiro (1912 - 1972) is a well-known Brazilian intellectual and writer who dedicated his life to preserving Brazilian culture. He wrote a number of studies on different aspects of Brazilian culture, which he published in short books called cadernos. Because he focused on aspects of culture associated with "black" Brazil, such as capoeira and candomblé, he had a difficulty publishing his work.

In his book, Cadernos de Folclore - Capoeira, he presents basic information about the art form. Here is a little bit from that notebook, as he talks about capoeiristas of the time and the places they hung out:

The preferred places to vadiar were Boa Viagem on New Years, Ribeira on the Monday of Bonfim, the Terreiro during Carnaval, and the Mercado Modelo during the Festival of Senhora da Conceição, but today the moleques de sinhá practice in designated areas, the academies of old Pastinha in Pelourinho, of Waldemar, Canjiquinha, and others…

… The famous capoeiristas of Bahia were, until recently, the fisherman Samuel Querido de Deus and the longshoreman Maré, both from the capital, and Siri do Mangue, from Santo Amaro. Other well-known capoeiras are the “captain” Aberrê, Juvenal, Polu, Onça Preta, Barbosa, Zepelin… Some of their students have moved to Rio de Janeiro and are trying to continue vadiando there.

The book was published in 1975, a few years after his death. Today there is a fantastic musuem in Rio de Janeiro dedicated to Edison Carneiro in regards for his contributions to Brazil.

"Quem não pode com Besouro..."

Besouro Preto de Mangangá is one of the most prevelant, yet also one of the most mysterious personalities in the history of capoeira. There are many capoeira songs that mention him, end even more legends that surround his life. Born in the city Santo Amaro de Purificação in 1885, Manoel Henrique Pereira, also known as Besouro Preto de Mangangá, or Besouro Cordão de Ouro, became a mythic figure and distinguished himself as one of the greatest capoeiras ever even though he died before he reached the age of thirty.

In the book, “Bimba, Pastinha e Besouro de Mangangá, três personagens da Capoeira Baiana” (Bimba, Pastinha and Besouro de Mangangá, three personalities of Bahian Capoeira), the author, Antonio Liberac Cardoso Simões Pires documents the changes that capoeira undergoes (largely from the street to the academy) at the start of the twentieth century through the lives of three great master capoeiristas: Mestre Bimba, Mestre Pastinha, and Besouro Preto.

The author also charts in detail the studies that he undertook to find information, especially in regards to the legendary figure of Besouro Preto. At times, the author even doubted the existence of the man because the stories surrounding him were so fantastic – that he escaped the police by turning into a beetle and flying away, or that he could not be wounded because he had a corpo fechado.To ascertain the truth as best he could, the author examined the registry books at the docks of various cities in Bahia, as well as the police records. He also interviewed citizens of Santo Amaro to piece together the history of Besouro Preto. Much of the information presented in the book comes from interviews done with a friend of the famous capoeirista known as Noca de Jacó. Here is an excerpt from the book that talks about them both:

Noca de Jocá became the principal informant regarding the life and work of Besouro de Mangangá; he guarded the memories and followed the life of the mestre, in the most tranquil times and the most intimate, like when he was working on the boat “Deus Me Guie”, meeting with women, and playing in capoeira rodas. Essentially, in both his moments of war and of peace. In this way, it is with good reason that Noca de Jocá was known in the city as one of the oldest capoeiristas still living when this study was done. According to him, Besouro was a person who did not like the police, street riots, nor cowardice. He was a good man, but also a valentão. When he was in Santo Amaro, he usually stayed around the warehouse. Sometimes he would travel by sailboat. He had to deliver merchandise, crossing the Bay of All Saints. Besouro challenged anyone who was well-known, or who could increase his reputation, as it is with all valentões, and at times, he also had to confront the police, who also had valentões in their ranks, and that is what happened during the time that Besouro worked on the docks:

“It happened in the Largo da Cruz. The solider challenged Besouro (Besouro responded) come back, come back. I’m not going to do anything. Besouro grabbed the revolver of the solider.”

… Besouro ran through the Beco do Xaréu, crossing the bridge. José Costa [the solider] who was a good runner, was able to get close to Besouro, but he was hit by shots from the revolver. The bravada of Besouro is remembered by all. In this case, he shot two bullets in the arm of the policeman. The fact that he had confronted the police turned him into a hero, a mestre for all the kids at the warehouse known as Trapiche de Baixo, where they played capoeira barefoot and plain clothes. His reputation turned into legend. People created stories about his in which he performed impossible stunts in impossible situations, mixing it all with the possible. An air of mystery surrounds this figure. They told me that at some times, he had the power to disappear, transforming himself into a beatle and flying from his enemies. His fantastic escapes from the police are one of the defining characteristics in his adventures, kept in the memory of the public…

This is a great book. Especially interesting is its description of the relationships between capoeira and the street, violence, and the police in the beginning of the twentieth century, and how these relationships influenced the development of capoeira.

You can find this book (in Portuguese) in the Center for Afro-Oriental Studies at the Federal University of Bahia, or if you want a copy for yourself, in many of the book stores around the center of the city of Salvador.

Orixás: Nanã Helps Create Humankind

Reginaldo Prandi, a sociologist from the University of São Paulo, is the author of the book Mitologia dos Orixás (Myths of the Orixás).

This is a really interesting book, and is great for those learning Portuguese because the writing is simple. In the book he presents 301 different myths relating the orixás. including this one about the creation of humankind:

Nanã supplies the mud to model humankind

They say that when Olorum charged Oxalá
With creating the world and modeling humankind,
The orixá tried various methods,
He tried to make man from air, like himself
It did not work because man faded away.
He tried to make man out of wood, but the creature was too hard
From rock, it was even worse.
He made man from fire and man burned up.
He tried oil, water, and even palm wine, but nothing worked.
It was then that Nanã Buruku came to help him.
She pointed to the bottom of the lake with her ibiri, her scepter and weapon.
And, from there she pulled a bit of mud for Oxalá
The mud at the bottom of the lake where she lived,
The mud beneath the waters that is Nanã.
Oxalá created man, modeled from mud.
With a blow of air Olorum he walked.
With the help of the orixás he populated the earth.
But there comes a day when man dies
And his body must return to the earth,
To return to nature, to Nanã Buruku.
Nanã gave the material in the beginning,
But in the end, she wants back all that belongs to her.

We will be presenting more myths from the book over the next couple of months, but if you want to look at the book yourself it is available in our archives for you enjoyment.

Build Your Own Archive: As Sete Portas da Bahia

      
Interested in creating an archive for your school, or perhaps one of your own? As Sete Portas da Bahia (The Seven Doorways of Bahia), with text and drawings by the famous artist Carybé, is an essential inclusion.

Carybé was born in Argentina, and began drawing when he was 10 years old. He studied fine arts in Rio de Janeiro, and at 27, he visited Bahia for the first time. When he was 49, he moved to Bahia and began to document the everyday lives of the people of Bahia through drawings and paintings.

In As Sete Portas da Bahia, Carybé presents different aspects of Bahian culture, including capoeira, the Largo do Pelourinho, the Festa de Yemenjá, candomblé, and more through his unique drawings and some very lyrical Portuguese prose. Here he talks about the fishermen and the songs they sing as they haul in a net heavy with fish:

The sand is white; they, dark. From the intense morning light rises a song.. .hundreds of voices respond.

Their feet are planted in the sand. When the suction increases the weight of the net, they cede a step and curve more their muscular backs:

A baleia me pediu
Aderecô Aninha
Pra fazê uma devoção
Aderecô Aninha
Vou pegá na jangadinha
Aderecô Aninha
Vou me embora velejá
Aderecô Aninha
O vento pegou de proa
Aderecô Aninha
Até da volta do má
Aderecô Aninha
Vou me embora que é noite
Aderecô Aninha
Eu não quero navegá
Aderecô Aninha
Fazê dos óio candeia
Aderecô Aninha
Até hora de vortá…

Recognize this lovely song? It’s one of the corridos that Mestre Moraes sings on the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho CD “GCAP Tem Dende”.

For a capoeira practitioner, As Sete Portas da Bahia is a great book not only for its look into capoeira and Bahian culture, but also because of the wonderful connections one can discover in the book that tie the two together (like the one above).

This book is available for your perusal (in Portuguese) in the FICA-DC Archives.