Brasília - The swaying movements of Africans arrived in Brazil with the slave ships. But it was here that the art of fighting and dancing simultaneously, turning, spinning, and flipping in the air to the sounds of "berimbaus" [bowed instruments that produce a sound similar to that of a Jew's harp], tambourines, and drums, came to life and was given the name of "capoeira." The story has it that, in 1890, President Deodoro da Fonseca, in order to restrain demonstrations by blacks, prohibited practicing the art.

For the first time, the preservation of capoeira will be the object of an official policy, launched yesterday (19), in Geneva, by the Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil. The reason the announcement was not made in Brazil is that the program will not be for capoeira practitioners in Brazil alone, but, rather, will be a National and World Capoeira Program, providing support to all those who teach the art in other countries, as well.

The idea is to qualify embassies and consulates to furnish information about the art, in addition to registering Brazilian capoeira groups and individual practitioners who live abroad. One of the features of capoeira instruction in other countries is the teaching and dissemination of the Portuguese language, since the chants and the names of movements are not translated.

Over five million Brazilians practice this art, which originated in the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Pernambuco.

Among its activities, the program envisions the creation of a specific social security plan for capoeira practitioners and the construction of a Reference Center in Salvador, in the state of Bahia, to serve as a collection of research, books, adornments, and images linked to capoeira.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Alessandra Bastos
Translator: David Silberstein
08/20/2004