It’s Batizado Week!! For those of you who do not know the Brazilian marital art of Capoeira, batizado week is an event full of workshops, music, international visitors and parties which ends with a festival and graduation ceremony. If you’re not a capoeirista you may wonder what this has to do with my blog or why you should care.
What it has to do with my blog is that so much of expanding your Capoeira knowledge has to do with traveling and visiting schools and events in other cities and countries. Some of the original capoeiristas were sailors and fishermen, taking to the sea to earn a living and to travel to other ports. Now capoeiristas travel from city to city to train with different groups and to attend workshops and celebrations. This summer in my travels I got a chance to visit schools in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and I can’t imagine how different my trip would have been with out these visits. Training Capoeira gave me time to exercise of course, but it was also a way to connect with old friends, meet new ones and even renew my energy when I was feeling a bit tired or low.
Batizado week is notoriously a busy one with little time for “regular life”. In fact, this time last year I missed writing in my blog all together – first time I totally missed a (self-imposed) deadline. This year, I decided to keep the blog writing short and instead focus on photos of my Capoeira meet ups around the world – more photos and fewer words keeps my chances of getting a blog post in on time a bit higher!
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| With Mestre Caxias and Sol in Abu Dhabi, UAE |
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| With the Filhos de Bimba group in Beirut |
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| Mestre Casquinha in Cyprus |
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| With Mestre Peixe celebrating 20 years of Capoeira in Sydney |
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| Roda performance with Capoeira Sobreviventes in Lebanon |
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| With Formando Semente in Catalunya, Spain |
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| With Mestre Biscuim & Zico in London |
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| Batizado after party with Contra-Mestre Espeto in Osaka, Japan |
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| After a great class with Grupo Capoeira Brasil in Utrecht, Holland |
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| A great visit to Paris with Gizmo and Professor Faisca |
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| After the Roda at Formando Bem-ti-Vi’s academy in Paris |
Wonderful, I’ve never practiced capoeira but I LOVE watching it. I’ve seen it many times in Brazil and I was just mesmerized by their grace!
Hi Angela! So glad you’ve gotten a chance to see Capoeira on your trips to Brasil. That’s where I first found it, and after seeing it I figured I had to seek it out in my hometown of Los Angeles. I was hooked after the first class and that was over 8 years ago. You should give it a try one day – its hard work but good fun!