Youth in Action in NYC

   

Njoli from FICA-NY send this write up about their June event for kids:

June 12th-!3th, 2010.

It was the Youth in Action: Service through Movement Conference in NYC. A really beautiful event with workshops taught completely by volunteers from around the city, country and the world. It was a wonderful thing to have such a variety of workshops: african & african brazilian percussion, capoeira movement & music, yoga, health & nutrition, art & the environment. Young people of all ages were with us and the energy was vibrant. Family and friends were there to support and to learn. There were struggles and obstacles (as there are with all events) but in the end, we were so glad for the outcome and look forward to all the opportunities to bring more events like this to the young people in our worldwide capoeira community.

We want to give a huge thanks again to all of guest instructors:

•Treinel Kamau - FICA Philly
•Atlanta Amado Forsyth - Samba
•Aloan Damasceno - FICA Bahia
•Karen Nicely - Yoga
•Stephen Dahmer MD - Health & Nutrition
•Ted Gousse L.Ac. - Health & Nutrition
and to our Mestres for their support and guidance.

Check out our website for even more pictures of this exciting event.

Be well.

   

Pictures from the FICA-São Paulo Event

   

A note from São Paulo:

Here are some pictures of the II Encounter of FICA-São Paulo.

We would like to thank Mestre Cobra Mansa, Mestre Valmir, Mestre Bigo (a student of Mestre Pastinha) and Treinel Thiago from FICA-BH.

We would also like to thank all the mestres, contra mestres, professors, treineis and students who participated in the rodas and workshops.

And we would especially like to thank the members of the FICA-São Paulo study group. Without you, this event would not have been possible. Let’s keep it up!

Abraços a todos e muito obrigado.

Womualy.
   

Celebrating Iemanjá in Rio Vermelho

 

On Tuesday, February 2, the neighborhood of Rio Vermelho in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil celebrated the Queen of the Sea, Iemanjá. Devotees began arriving at the beach around 4:00 am and kept streaming into the Casa de Peso, where the offerings were collected until well into the evening; bringing offerings of flowers, perfume, jewelry, mirrors, and dolls to be sent off into the sea.

And there was plenty of capoeira. A street roda led by Sapoti, who organizes the weekly Sunday night roda in Rio Vermelho, as well as a roda, samba, and feijoada organized by Grupo Nzinga.
 

Capoeira Angola in Hawaii

    

A note from Hawaii:

It was the first Capoeira Angola event in our new space, which is on the land where we have created a small homestead. Our space sits fifty feet from our house in front of the goat and chicken yard. We are excited to incorporate sustainable living and permaculture principles; planting bananas, fruit trees, papayas, taro and cassava, greens and vegetables, bee keeping, composting, mulching and living simpler and closer with nature. Since the first times that Mestre Jurandir and Contramestre Silvinho came to the Big Island of Hawaii in 2006 our group has been moving forward day by day, and today, with the blessing of our Mestre, we are able to hang our berimbaus on a wall devoted to this beautiful art form. Today we can light a candle and incense to remind us of the ones who came before us so that we can enjoy Capoeira Angola.

While Contramestre Silvinho was here we trained every morning and had workshops every evening. We promoted Capoeira Angola at the University with a free demo/first time workshop. The next day we did a demonstration at the annual parade in the historic downtown Pahoa. Students, who were taking a sabbatical from the group, joined us for the weekend of fun and challenge and learned more about group participation and community connection. When asked by Contramestre Silvinho, "What is Capoeira Angola", the kids from our local school program responded with answers such as, "to make friends", "respect", "martial art", "dance", "working together" and "music". And so, with gratitude in our hearts and the continued support of Mestre Jurandir, Contramestre Silvinho and FICA, Capoeira Angola continues to enhance our community here in Hawaii.

Many thanks to Joe, leader of the group in Hawaii for the report. Make sure to give him a call if you are headed to Hawaii. Sounds like pretty good living...
   

Zumbi Pastinha Weekend 2009

  

FICA-DC hosted the annual Zumbi-Pastinha Weekend Encounter this year from November 12 - 14. Each day started with a 6 am morning training with M Cobra Mansa, and the hard training continued all day with workshops led by Mestre Jurandir, Mestre Valmir, M Cobra Mansa, and Contramestre Silvinho. We were also happy to have the presence of Contramestre Chorao, down from Boston, as well as many people from all over the country.

Besides training, we watched the film "Rhytmic Uprisings" and had a discussion with the film's directors. We also had a great party, hosted by legendary DC partyman Gaucho Dan, and many exciting rodas.

Can't hardly wait til the next one...

Thanks to Merle, Deepa and Celeste for the pictures.

If you have pictures that you would like to share, send us a link at: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com
 

Cake and Capoeira in Mozambique

Some pictures and a note from Kt, who just got back from Mozambique!

Here are some photos from the FICA Maputo and Nzinga Maputo Capoeira Angola groups in Mozambique . FICA Maputo celebrated their 5th anniversary as a Capoeira Angola group in Maputo and their 4th year as part of FICA during the Friday night roda on August 28th. Definitely check out the groups in Maputo and if you can't make the trip out here's the Nzinga Maputo blog too.

The balloons are a nice touch, too.

Celebrating 102 Years of M Pastinha in Goiás

Here are some pictures from the FICA-Goiás celebration of 120 years of Mestre Pastinha with the presence of Mestres Sabu and Goiano.

Thanks to Renato for the pictures.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Pictures from a Roda in Lapa

On the first Saturday of the month, Grupo Capoeira Angola Aluande, under the direction of Contramestre Urubu, hosts a roda during a crafts and antique fair in the Lapa neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. These photos are from the April roda, that included capoeiristas from Grupo Aluande, FICA-Rio, Grupo Ypiranga, Mestre Marrom's group, FICA-DC and other groups.

It was a gorgeous day and a very fun roda with lots of good energy. If you are in Rio the first Saturday of the month make sure you don't miss the roda.

If you have photos that you would like to share with the international Capoeira Angola community, send them to the blog: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com.

Pics from Women's Event in Salvador

Here are some pictures from the FICA/Nzinga women's event that was held last weekend in honor of International Women's Day.

We started the fun at Nzinga on Friday night. We started the roda with an all-women bateria, and two women playing. Men were there, and soon joined in the roda. Following the roda we had a mesa de frutas, always welcome after an energetic roda.

The next day, the dedicated were up early and ready for music class with Ana. We had people from all over the city, not just capoeiristas take part in the music class, as well as the dance class that followed, led by Suelly. It was an amazing class! We were all ready for the roda.

We had another roda, with participation of people from FICA, Nzinga, Zimba, Grupo Bonfim, Filhos de Angola, and others. Again, we followed the roda with a mesa de frutas.

Many thanks go to Mexicana (Adrianna) for all her organizing efforts. It was a great event.

Salvador, Brazil: FICA-Bahia Closes 2008

FICA-Bahia held its final roda of the year on Saturday, December 13. They welcomed capoeiristas from Grupo Nzinga, including Mestre Poloca, as well as Acanne, Acupe de Brotas, Angoleiros de Serra, Fabricio from Colombia (our old friend from FICA-DC who also trained for many years with FICA-Bahia), and a whole mess of gringos from all over the world- South Africa, Sweden, the USA, Russia, Canada, Australia, Israel, and many other countries.

It was a real good time. The energy was fantastic, the music was excellent, and we ate a lot of fruit when it was over.

If you missed the closing roda, you can catch the opening roda of 2009 on Saturday, January 10th at the FICA-Bahia space at Ed. Esther Moura Franca, Rua Carlos Gomes no. 111 5o andar, Centro.

Have fun!

Washington, DC: Last Roda of 2008

Some pictures from FICA-DC's last roda of the year. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

If you missed the roda, FICA-DC will be holding a special roda in honor of President Barack Obama, on Sunday, January 18, the weekend before his inaugration in our fine city. FICA-DC will also hold weekly rodas on every Saturday at 11:00 am.

If you are interested in taking Capoeira Angola classes in DC, a special "Beginners' Session" will be held, starting Tuesday, January 6, at 7 pm.

Thanks to T Gege for the pictures.

New York City, USA: The Final Roda of the Year

Pictures from the last roda of the year at FICA-NYC, with special guests from Mestre João Grande's school, FICA-DC, FICA-Oakland, and Contramestre Chorão from Acupe de Brotas, now close by in Boston.

Thanks to Merle (FICA-NYC) and T Gege for the photos.

If you have pictures from a roda that you would like to share with the international Capoeira Angola community, please send them (or a link) along to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com

Zumbi-Pastinha Weekend 2008 in Washington State

Angoleiros came from all over - Chicago, Madison, Hawaii, NY, Oakland.... but it was Mestre Jurandir who brought the sun to Seattle for a Pastinha weekend full of energy!

FICA Seattle and the Evergreen State College in Olympia combined our annual Afro Brazilian Festival with Pastinha weekend. The drumming, dancing, singing, playing, sweating and eating all combined to provide an exceptional type of communion.

Treinel Daniel set the pace Friday night when he packed a one hour class full of movements and concepts, especially impressive considering that he was asked to teach 5 minutes before the class began. The opening roda that followed grew steadily and kept momentum for hours, the event was off to a promising start.


Of course, a few grueling workshops were tossed into the mix. Treinel Baba Jan and Contra Mestre Chorão teamed up on Saturday morning for a class that pushed us all to our limits. Some of the topics covered in the class were eye contact and focus, repetition to the point of exhaustion, and various types of sapinho.


Then, our friend Awal Alhassen taught the traditional "Sala" dance from his native Ghana. Through these movements, translated as "human", he reminded us that our ancestries are interconnected. Like capoeira, the conversation between drummers is a key component of West African dance.


Mestre Jurandir led the afternoon workshop, teaching a number of movement combinations that none of us had ever seen before, many of them centered around his particular knack with rastiera.

Throughout the weekend, everyone’s energy was sustained by nourishing food planned and prepared by our own nutritionist, Dona Leika (CM Silvinho's wife).

On Sunday morning Mestre Jurandir led a berimbau workshop in familiar fashion, teaching variations and listening to each person play individually around the circle. A question and answer session around song lyrics followed.

Next, to relax a bit, our friend Dora Oliveira engaged us in shaking it down, Samba style.


The closing roda was opened by the youngest Angoleira around, at two years, reminding us all that the essence of capoeira is natural and instinctive.

Our Northwest trio - Seattle, Olympia, and Portland were pleased and honored to host such an amazing event.

Thanks to all who came, especially those who persevered breakdowns and delays, and brought so much axe!!!!!


And many thanks to Criss from FICA-Seattle for the pictures and the great report.

Have an event re-cap or pictures that you would like to share with the worldwide capoeira community? Send it to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com

Dia das Crianças in Massaranduba

On October 11, following the FICA Saturday morning roda, a group of capoeiristas headed over to the Massaranduba neighborhood to celebrate Dia das Crianças (Day of the Children) with the students at Grucom, where FICA has maintained a class for many years.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how much fun everyone had. The kids are really great and they loved having all the big people there to play. At the end of the roda they all got presents (not a bad way to end a roda...)

Currently, Adriana is leading the class in Massaranduba on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. If you have the time, stop by. You will be happy you did.

Thanks to Gata Russa for the additional photos.

Celebrating Capoeira in Washington, DC

We at 733 Euclid Street celebrate capoeira just about everyday of the week in DC, but on September 13, 2008, the Brazilian Embassy hosted an event in honor of capoeira's registration as an official cultural patrimony of Brazil in the capital of the United States of America, Washington, DC.

FICA-DC started the celebration early with a Friday night roda for Mestre João Grande who made the journey to DC with his student Bujão. The energy was very nice and we were really happy to welcome Mestre back to our school after nearly a decade since his last visit.

The embassy event was held at the City Museum in the heart of downtown DC. Hundreds of people came, capoeiristas as well as interested citizens. The event started with a lunch discussion about capoeira led by Mestre João Grande, Fred Abreu from the Insituto Jair Moura in Salvador, and Mestre Camisa from Abadá Capoeira. Fred Abreu talked about the history of capoeira, João Grande talked about his roots as a capoeirista, and Mestre Camisa talked about the recent history of capoeira and his travels.

Many capoeiristas came out to hear the discussion, watch a bit of the movie "Mestre Bimba, A Capoeira Illuminado", have some lunch, and play capoeira under the hot September sun. It was a fun roda, led by Mestre João Grande with Mestre Jurandir from FICA and Mestre Camisa. There were also many other Regional mestres, contramestres, and professors there. We did a joint Angola-Regional roda that lasted a few hours, and then a local all-women samba reggae drum ensemble got everyone dancing.

To close out our long and happy day, angoleiros and regionais sat down to dinner together in Adams Morgan.

The event was part of the Brazilian Embassy's release of its latest edition of the magazine, Texts from Brazil. This edition is devoted to capoeira. It is really excellent and beautifully put together, and yes, you will soon be seeing excerpts from the magazine on the blog, but in the meantime, it is also available for perusal in our archives.

Thanks everyone for participating!

Check out JohnC's pictures

Take a look at Akua's pictures.

FICA Encounter 2008: Cheguei na Igreja e Não Confessei

The 2008 FICA Conference was a great success. Many thanks to FICA-Chicago for organizing such an outstanding event. It was truly one of the best conferences ever!!! We trained hard, ate well, met new friends,re-connected with old ones, swam in the lake, played with all the capoeira babies, stayed up too late, partied a bit, and, of course, played lots of capoeira.

Throughout the whole weekend, we enjoyed the presence of the three FICA mestres, Cobra Mansa, Valmir, and Jurandir, as well as Mestre Manoel from Grupo Ypiranga de Pastinha in Rio de Janeiro, and Contramestres Silvinho (FICA), Alcione (Angola Dobrada), and Chorão (Acupe de Brotas).

Opening roda at FICA-Chicago. (photo by Russell H)

People started arriving earlier in the week to help out, but the event began on Thursday night with a very energetic roda at the FICA-Chicago space.

Mestre Valmir in the roda with Shayna, FICA-NYC. (photo by T Gege).

Around 11 pm, we all piled into yellow and black school buses and made the journey to Camp Lawrence which is actually located in Valparaiso (or Valpo, as the locals call it), Indiana.

In the dark of night, we staked out our beds in the cabins and dorms-- one for men and one for women :)-- some brave souls pitched tents in the drizzle, and called it a night.

Acorda, dende.

A few hours later, M Cobra Mansa and his band of wandering minstrels paraded through the cabins and dorms to make sure everyone was awake and ready for breakfast at 6:30 am. It was a gray and rainy day, but after a bit of coffee and stretching everyone was ready for some capoeira. More capoeiristas arrived that morning to add to the fun. We had a great time training (2 classes the first day!), hanging out, and eating good food. After dinner, a little pagode broke out in the dining hall, and a little later, a roda started that went til 2 am.

On Saturday, the wandering bateria again roused all for the day. Back at the dining hall, Mestre Cobra Mansa gave a few late night revelers who had the bad luck to have held a lively, loud conversation outside his window the night before an early morning lesson.

CM Alcione leads class. (photo by Russell H)

We were all a bit more exhausted then Friday morning, but the great breakfast and the shining sun got us going. After the first class, many capoeiristas jumped-- or were thrown -- into the lake for a refreshing swim. Following lunch, we trained some more and there was a nice discussion about capoeira as an international phenomenon with Mestres Cobra Mansa, Valmir, and Manoel.

Nossa Senhora da Mata. (photo by T Gege)

Later that night, we had a really amazing roda. Camp Lawrence is actually a Christian camp, and there is a little chapel called Our Lady of the Forest, set up on a hill a little behind the camp. It is small and intimate, but it has high celings. Also, a little bird lived there.

Deepa O (as in Oakland) vadiando with T Beto in the little green church on the hill. (photo by T Gege).

The sound was tight and the energy was close. The roda rocked the little church into the wee hours of the morning. It was real nice.

M Cobra Mansa and Huu at the closing roda. (photo by T Gege)

Sunday started off right with french toast (yes, french toast. the food at this conference was amazing) served up by Mama Geni and her cooking crew. We had a FICA general meeting to go over group business while those non-FICA members at the conference got to do a class with Mestre Manoel. Later, we had some cake to celebrate 10 years of FICA-Chicago, and got down to business with a closing roda.

On the bus. (photo by Russell H - btw, that's him right in the front)

In the afternoon, we piled back into the yellow and black buses to go our separate ways, all exhausted but richer in our knowledge of Capoeira Angola and in our friendships.

Of course, one of the great things about conferences is that you can see all your cappy friends in one place. This year, people from all over the world came to participate in the Chicago conference. Pretty much all the US FICA groups were represented, as well as folks from FICA-Japan (Raheim, Asuka, and friends), the Capoeira Angola Center in Italy and New York, Chorão came in from Boston, Jeremy from Colorado, Sylvia from the Universal Capoeira Angola school, and many more.

The amazing Mama Geni making magic in the kitchen. (photo by Russell H)

Just a note, the food at the conference was outstanding!! We enjoyed feijoada, bobo de camarão, lentils, smoothies, the above mentioned french toast, and lots of amazing veggies. (yeah, the food alone was worth coming). Many thanks to Mama Geni for her excellent cooking skills and kitchen management, and special thanks to Wajid, his daughter Laila, and Sarah, who brought fresh produce from their farm... tomatoes, greens, squash, beets, and more. It was amazing and it made us so happy.

Farming family + Russell H.

Many thanks to FICA-Chicago for organizing this year's conference. It was a >blast<. The group would also like to thank John and Laura Thorstad of Camp Lawrence, the IAC (Illinois Arts Council) and all the day care volunteers.

This conference must have set a record for capoeira babies present. Here is just one of the many with Jasper of FICA-Atl. (photo by Russell H)

Also, a special shout out to Ama of FICA-Baltimore along with her editing team, Drea, Isa, Gege, and Carlos Gomez for the production of another great issue of the Caxixi literary magazine.

**If you have something creative (or not, doesn't really matter) you would like to share, there will be another issue of Caxixi coming out in March 2009 in conjunction with the Women's conference. We'll have more information about it coming up, so check back, and please participate. The more, the merrier.**

Did I forget anything or anyone? Let me know if I did - I am still recovering from the weekend. I had a great time in Chicago. The only things I was missing were Phu and Lauren!!! We miss you. Be safe in your respective danger zones (Thailand & New Orleans).

Everyone in front of the weeping willow at Camp Lawrence, where being close to nature is being close to god. (photo by Russell H)

Here are some more pictures from T Gege.

See more photos on the Portuguese side of the blog.

**Check back later for more pictures.**

If you have pictures of the conference you would like to share, send us the link at: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com, or leave it in the comments.

The next FICA conference will be in Belo Horizonte in July or August of 2009. Hope to see you there!

Photos: Vadiando in the Streets of Salvador

Here are some photos from Salvador, Bahia on June 15th- the day Iphan (O Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Patrimony) voted to designate capoeira an official cultural patrimony of Brazil. Outside of the Palácio Rio Branco, where the vote was held, hundreds of capoeiristas joined to play in rodas in the square and demonstrate the beauty and trickery of their art.

These are pictures from the FICA-Nzinga roda. Enjoy!

Thanks to Cristina for the great pictures.

If you have photos you would like to share, send a link to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com

Capoeira in Japan (some pictures)

Pics from a roda in Japan with Mestre Cobra Mansa and other guests.

Clique aqui para ver todas as fotos.


Thanks to M Cobra Mansa e Rahiem pelas fotos.

FICA-Philly: Photos from Odunde Festival

FICA-Philadelphia hosted its annual roda at the Odunde Festival. Folks from DC, New York City, LA, and even Salvador (Mestre Paulinha!) were on hand to vadiar. Everyone looks really happy.

Thanks to Fabricio for the pictures.

If you would like to share pictures from an event at your school, send them (or a link) along to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com

enjoy!

FICA-Baltimore: Photos from the 2008 Malcolm X Weekend

Looks like everyone had a real good time at this year's Malcolm X Weekend event, hosted annually by FICA-Baltimore.

Many thanks to Fabricio for the pictures.

If you would like to share photos from an event at your school, simply email a link to: ficadcarchives (at) gmail (dot) com.