What is "Capoeira"?

Capoeira, is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. Best described not as a dance but as a sport in which the participants—historically, sometimes with blades strapped to their ankles or held between their toes—swing their legs high in attack, perform aerial somersaults, and pass within a hairsbreadth of each other’s knees, head, groin, or stomach.

The basic aesthetic elements of capoeira were brought to Brazil by slaves, primarily from west and west-central Africa. These elements were recombined and reinterpreted within the diverse slave community of Brazil to create a unique means of self defence, both driven and disguised—as merely a dance—by its musical accompaniment.

Two opponents face each other within the roda—a circle of capoeiristas— emulating in a stylized manner the strikes and parries of combat, in time with the rhythms of a small musical ensemble. Music is indeed integral to the practice of capoeira. The ensemble typically consists of one to three berimbaus (struck musical bows), one or two atabaques (single-headed, standing, conical drums), a pandeiro (tambourine), an agogô (double bell), and sometimes also a reco-reco (scraped bamboo tube), all of which accompany call-and-response songs, usually led by one of the berimbau players.

On 26 November 2014, "Capoeira" was granted a special protected status as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.