NYC 2010 Batizado

I just got back from Mestre Caxias' batizado in NYC. It was his last batizado while living in New York. He will be moving to Dubai with his wife, Sol for the next couple years. The event and the workshops beforehand were great. The week before the batizado, all of us in NC took workshops with Formanda Colibri.



In the end, I came out with a new cord (nice to have a fresh one that doesn't smell like hell) and a lot of new information and ideas for training for the next months. And my legs feel like they're going to fall off. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time or energy to do much outside of batizado and workshops. I would have liked to meet with my uncle and a few friends while I was there, but it wasn't going to happen. I guess we can't have it all.

Now that we're back in Durham, the students at CBNC are getting ready for Mestre Caxias and Prof. Trovão's upcoming visit on the weekend of June 19. New cords for the students here will be riding on performance during the next weeks. Wish them luck!

CB-NC Batizado

If you are one of the many readers visiting my blog, you should know that Grupo Capoeira Brasil-NC is having their annual batizado Oct 10, 2009. The dates could possibly change in the next couple weeks, but early October is when things will begin.

If you play capoeira or you're just interested in seeing something new, come by the Terreiro de Arte e Cultura at 105c W. Corporation st. in downtown Durham, NC for the event. If you get there early enough, you might even learn to do some of this:





*Blogger managed to do a great job with cutting these images off in my browser. How about yours?

Gonna be the Sh!t...

So there's a capoeira movie coming out. A friend sent me the trailer,
and I'm excited. Some would be ashamed to say this in any sort of
public forum, but I like kung fu movies. I've gained an appreciation
for the genre. In the past I thought it was silly to see people
flying and doing all kinds of comic book action, but today I can
appreciate the aesthetic and broad offerings of many of these films.
Like any other type of artistic expression, some films are more
successful than others. Either way, I can confidently say that I like
this sort of movie.

But now there's a movie on the way that seems to have this same sort
of action. Its like the Shaw brothers went on vacation in Salvador,
and now they want to do something a little different. I don't really
know who directed the film. Maybe I'll pay more attention to that
later. It will be interesting to see how the film is received, and
what it does for attention it grants the capoeira community. One
thing that I think will be particularly interesting is the way that
people will deal with the way that discussions of race/discrimination
at the turn of the 20th century in Brazil is framed in the movie.
Also, how will today's movie-going audience digest the movie's
portrayal of injustice--and this will probably have to show up in the
film since we're talking about a folk hero? Are the problems that
Besouro fights against issues that die with the villains and the hero?

I'm going to have to keep my ear to the ground.

Oh, and if this movie doesn't come out in the US fast enough, I may be forced into seeking out bootleg copies. It's the way of the world.

Yeah, its gonna be good!

Capoeira is alive and well

Despite the things I said about the place getting crazy with the student coming back, we are happy to see a lot of interest in capoeira in the area. Grupo Capoeira Brasil had a roda last Friday in downtown Durham, and we can't wait to do it again.