Roda in Salvador, Terreiro de Jesus

This is the roda Mestre Lua Rasta has been organising for several years on the Terreiro de jesus, in the Pelourinho on Salvador, where traditionnaly many street capoeira rodas happened. You will notice the saxophone in the back, it is not uncommon for those rodas to have diverse intruments.

NEW CAPOEIRA CLASS IN ELEPHANT AND CASTLE

Dear all,

Here is the information on Pedreiro's new class for Tuesday evenings at the Siobhan Davies Dance Studio.

Dates: Tuesdays 8th Sept to 8th December
Time: 8 pm to 9 pm
Cost: £84 for the whole 14 week course or £7 per class (drop-in)

Address: Siobhan Davies Studios, 85 St George's Road, London, SE1 6ER.
(Near Elephant & Castle Tube)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7091 9650
Fax: +44 (0)20 7091 9669
Email: info@siobhandavies.com
Website: www.siobhandavies.com

The studio has a Harlequin dance floor so we will need to play in bare feet. (No shoes in the studio.)
People can pay by cash or cheque but the studio will make an additional 2.5% administration charge if people want to pay by card.

The class is limited to 20 people but people can book by telephone then pay when they arrive.

Bookings: Telephone 020 7091 9650

BLOG: capoeirapedreiro.blogspot.com
MOVIES: youtube.com/CapoeiragemBaiana

Pedreiro will keep the Roda at Ferndale on Monday nights so don't hesitate to take advanatge of those two opportunities.

Hope to see you there.

Raymond.

Pierre Verger

...French photographer who ended up living in Bahia for the last fifty years of his life, travelling intensively to Africa, exploring the relationship between candomblé in Bahia and voodoo in Bénin (basically it's the same thing).
He took some of the best capoeira photos in the forties showing how it was before it became organized by the different academies (Pastinha, Bimba etc)
Check out the Fundaçao Pierre Verger's webiste, it's full of hidden gems.

here is some of his photographic work put in video


Here is a great little film that he seemingly produced about carnival in the forties based on a series of photos that he took in Rio in 1941, Pernambuco 1947 and Bahia in 1948



it's in French, hit me up if you want more info ...:)

Mestre Ciro de Joao Pequeno de Pastinha

Another good surprise on Youtube, a great intimate video of Mestre Ciro, a former student of Mestre Joao Pequeno, himself a former student of Mestre Pastinah, singing one of his songs on the guitar.



Just a moment to relax...

how many capoeiras can you name?

In case you didn't notice a while ago I posted a poll with multiple questions asking what the definition of capoeira was.

I guess there is no right answer to that question, but in this particular case, all the answers could be found in Waldeloir Rego's seminal "Capoeira Angola Ensaio Socio-Etnografico" (1968). There's actually a whole chapter (chp 2) dedicated to the question.

Amongst the many definitions compiled in this book one can find:

- a basket made of sticks where birds like hens and other birds are kept

- an old carriage

- a brace (tipoia)

- the excavation at the bottom of a well

- wood that was cut down (a clearing)

- a sort of athletic game

- a bird also known as Uru

and others..

Jerkin in L.A.

I will now spare you the experimental videos and introduce you to the latest dance craze in L.A. What do you think? It's worth waiting through the intro (what a great tribute to the Nouvelle Vague) and see some of the dancing..

Elmina

In the light of Obama's historical speech in Accra and his visit to Elmina, I'm posting old S8 stuff. This is even more obscure... Some footage of a trip we did, first stop Elmina Fort first slave fortress ever, built by the Portuguese in 1482, then a village in Togo, next Ouidah, Bénin another stop on the slave trade route, from where many boats departed. The mural images represent some of the Yoruba kings, who also took part in the slave trade.

S8 footage of street capoeira performance in LDN

this is some of the first footage I shot in S8, of Pedreiro, Pastel, Dimola, Florence, Lula in London...




S8 film shot 8 frames a second edited in the camera on a music of Ja Morreu Filhos de Oxala.

Workshop details with Mestre Roberval

Hi
Here are the final details for Wednesday's Workshop with Mestre Roberval.
DATE: Wednesday 8 July 2009.
TIME: 7.30 pm.
VENUE: Waterloo Action Centre
ADDRESS: 14 Baylis Road, Lambeth. London, SE1 7AA
COST £15
(Waterloo Action Centre is oppposite the Cubana Bar and Near The Old Vic)
http://www.waterlooactioncentre.co.uk/
Nearest Tubes Waterloo or Lambeth North.
Buses
1, 59, 68, 77, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 341, 4, 26, 139, 243, 521.
or
To Lambeth North, 12, 53, 148, 453, C10, 159. (& Many others to Waterloo.)

REMINDER - Friday Evening.
Pedreiro is giving a demonstration of a Capoeira Roda on Friday 10 July at Horniman School. 7.30pm. Free event. All are welcome. Come & play. The school has connections in Brasil. There will be free food (Caribbean BBQ) and other events. Should be fun.
Horniman Primary School, Horniman Drive, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3BP .
http://www.hornimanprimary.com/
Entrance on Horniman Drive - From London Road near the Horniman Museum turn into Honor Oak Park, then left into Westwood Park then right into Horniman Drive. Let me know if you are coming as we need to give the Headteacher a list.
I look forward to seeing you then.

Regards.
Raymond.

Capoeira demo & upcoming workshop

Pedreiro is giving a demonstration of a Capoeira Roda on Friday 10 July at Horniman School. 7pm for 7.30 start. Free event. All are welcome. Come & play. There will be free food (Caribbean BBQ) and other events. Should be fun.
Horniman Primary School, Horniman Drive, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3BP .
http://www.hornimanprimary.com/
Entrance on Horniman Drive - From London Road near the Horniman Museum turn into Honor Oak Park, then left into Westwood Park then right into Horniman Drive. You can just turn up but if you know you are coming it would be helpful to let me know for planning purposes.

Also,
REMINDER
The next Workshop with the irrepressible Mestre Roberval will be on the evening of Wednesday July 8 2009. Time, venue, and date TBA. Payment in advance would be helpful if you are coming to Monday class. Again, if you know you are coming (or if you know you can't) it would be helpful to know. I look forward to seeing you then.

Raymond

MICHAEL JACKSON, OLODUM, CITY OF GOD

Michael Jackson has passed away and let us pay tribute to "one of us ": an amazing artist, admired from all over the world. In Brazil, a country that has its own very strong music industry, his fame hit in the eighties when everyone just went crazy about his dance moves.

He shot this video in Brazil in 1996 in the favella City of God (Cidade de Deus) and in the Pelourinho, the historical centre of Salvador Bahia, with the group Olodum. That's when when Katia Lund, who was the producer for the Rio shoot, first became acquainted with the favella, which then inspired her to produce the oscar winning film "City of God", one of the greatest Brazilian box office hits (that's right!!)

This is just an example of how strong his legacy will carry on in the world and how greatly he will be missed.



My own fave MJ moments... was after the capoeira class on Monday nights, we went to our usual pub on Brixton's high street with the locals (unfortunately now replaced by a posher pub) just in time to catch the results of the MJ trial broadcast live. When he was found non guilty, everyone broke into an applause and cheered.

Filhos de Angola - clip

As you are all getting prepared for the workshop with Mestre Roberval, seemed like a good opporunity to post this clip from a few years ago with Mestres Laercio, Rosalvo, Roberval and Jomaria (the woman).

The filming is outstanding, as is the capoeira of course.



Enjoy!

Workshop with Mestre Roberval - Tue 16 June

To all members of Grupo de Capoeiragem Baiana.

Here are the details for the workshop on Tuesday 16 June with Mestre Roberval of Grupo de Capoeira Filhos de Angola. (Genuine traditional Capoeira Angola handed down from generation to generation.) It will definitely be fun!

Venue: Ferndale Sports Centre, Nursery Road, Brixton, SW9 8BP. Tel: 0845 130 8998
Nearest Tube: Brixton
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Cost: £15. (Please pay directly to Pedreiro) We are hiring the hall so please pay in advance, preferably at the monday class.
Hope to see you there!

Raymond.

A Capoeiragem de um Mestre e seu Bando Anunciador

Lua Rasta's "A Capoeiragem de um Mestre e seu Bando Anunciador" just won a prize at the ethnographic film festival in Recife. Congratulations! Cultura Viva




To buy the DVD, get in touch with Pedreiro

For more info about the film go to the blog
http://atelierluarasta.blogspot.com/

New video of Pedreiro on the Youtube

So I was the first to spot it and comment on it on Youtube (!).

So I'm not being biaised at all when I wrote "tight and neat, that' s what I'm talking about", no...

I should have even added, that's my "master" but .. anyways, enjoy the art of the understatement.

Divine Ladies Parade

This IS the video i was writing about. Second Line in New Orleans. Good times ahead. Enjoy!

NOLA secondline step

NOLA calling

I went to NOLA. the city was amazing, so much music and dancing in the streets. I shot a whole video under the rain of people parading. It was a unique experience.

Here's a screenshot of a copy of a document by Jean Baptiste Tardieu from 1798, I found at the Louisiana State Museum. You'll recognize an instrument looking like the berimbau. No great surprise as it was wide spread instrument throughout the American continent wherever slaves were living. Only thanks to the practice of capoeira in Bahia has its use been maintained well into the 21st century. In other parts of the world such as Cuba or the US, it's disapeared.

O Samba vem da Bahia

For more explanations, ask Pedreiro

Photo on the Internet

It's crazy what one can find on the Internet. As I was browsing I once noticed this photo in an article related to capoeira in the streets (tried finding it again without success). It must have been taken nearly fifteen years ago.




It's a photo of Pedreiro, who'd just gotten back from the beach and was having a game of capoeira by the Elevador Lacerda in Salvador. He's looking slightly skinnier than today :) and is playing with Mestre Dois de Ouro, a great capoeira, who unfortunately is no longer with us.

Capoeira according to Mestre Pastinha

A capoeira tem negativa. A capoeira nega. A capoeira é positiva. Tem verdade. Negativa é fazer que vai e nao vai e na hora que nego nao mais espera, o capoeirista vai e entra e ganha (...).

Capoeira has "negativa". Capoeira negates. Capoeira is positive. It has truth. "Negativa" is to pretend going and not going and when the person doesn't expect it anymore, the capoeirista goes in and wins (...).

Youtube channel

Here's a video of Pedreiro & Axé in 2003




To check the other videos out, go to our Youtube channel

In Madagascar..

Hi guys,

still waiting for some updates...
Sniffing about on the world wide web found this link to capoeira in madagascar?
very impressive, there's even a mention of some kind of fight...

Welcome Blog!

This is the new blog for students from Pedreiro's capoeira group, to talk about anything related to the class, their lives and experiences.

Here is a picture I took on a trip to Namibia in Dec 2007, of a musician we met in the market, who played an instrument from the family of the berimbau .