And yes, I do realize that I’d promised to release this by about three months ago.  I apologize once again for having dropped completely off the radar for the past while. And I particularly apologize to all those who have been leaving comments that I haven’t replied to. (Heck, I get annoyed when someone just doesn’t reply on MSN, so I’m sorry for being horrible!!)

This will sound super lame, but pretty much my only excuse here is…Montreal is just way too much fun. That, plus a 1.5-hour commute to/from work (each way), and the rest of the time I’ve been taking  a prep course/studying to take the MCAT in a couple months (the entrance exam for applying to medical schools in North America…please don’t ask, it’s a long story).

I’ve barely even been training, to be honest. I haven’t really been “feministing”, either, if not actually doing the opposite. So I suppose it kind of makes sense that someone taking a semi-hiatus from both capoeira and feminism wouldn’t be posting very much on a feminist capoeira blog!  (Provided I ever find time to post again, this paragraph will be elaborated upon hopefully in the near future.)

At any rate, lest we forget, today is International Women’s Day. And oh god, do we have a long way to go.

So, I figured, what better timing for the release of a commemorative magazine about a feminist capoeira blog?

Just so you know, I haven’t actually been working on this for the past three months straight. In fact, I’d completed all but the table of contents & editor’s note right before leaving for Montreal, and just didn’t manage to return to it until the other day!

Now, there are a couple ways you can view the publication. First, I HIGHLY recommend clicking on the main image link provided below. It leads to an absolutely beautiful set-up by issuu.com, where you can virtually flip through the magazine as if it were on a table in front of you.

Next, I’ve provided two pdf files you may download for (1) easier reading or (2) printing! The first file has the magazine’s spread layouts retained (from which you could print out the centerfold as a poster), and the second splits it up into all single pages.

Finally, you may have noticed a new widget on the sidebar featuring the magazine. This is so it’ll always be available for anyone new or returning to Mandingueira to check it out!  Also, please do make sure to check out the final two pages.

I loved, loved, LOVED putting this magazine together, and think it’s one of the best projects I’ve ever done. I hope you enjoy it!

Um abraço,

Joaninha

Celebrating one year of Mandingueira! (click on image to open)

Downloads:

Mais Uma Volta PDF (spreads)

Mais Uma Volta PDF (single pages)

“..instead of taking notes, you are drawing little figures doing aus and meia lua de compassos.”
-from “You Know You’re Capoeira-Crazy When…”

EVOLUTION

*

MARGINAL FIGURES

p.s. Please know I am fully aware of my artistic capabilities, or lack thereof.  There’s a reason I usually stick to writing!

(Obsessed?? Who, me???)

1. It features a mandingueira, playing a mandingueiro.

2. It’s beautiful!

The graphics are stunning, the capoeiristas themselves are “devastatingly fit” (to quote from the youtube description), the music is haunting, and their game is pure enjoyment to watch. Although it’s mostly kicks and acrobatics (as opposed to more elaborate dialogue, though that might have been hard to create well), Lena at Utopia Films did a really good job. Look out at 1:46 and 1:53 for examples of cintura desprezada!

Of course, I couldn’t help noticing their capoeira cordas as well…I’m assuming, based on the red and the white, that the woman is a contra-mestra and the man is a mestre. Why they couldn’t have both been mestres I don’t know, but I guess for the variety. (And better than a higher level woman being matched with a lower level man, I suppose?) Oh, and apparently the video is an ad for Diet Coke, though it’s subtle (well, kind of)…just ignore that part!

Anyway, the best bit about this video is: It’s supposed to be part 1 of a trilogy! So I will definitely keep an eye out for the rest of the installments and feature them on here once they’re available. (Unless they just included that line in the video for “effect”.) At any rate, for now, press play, and breathe in the music, the motions, the scene…

Update: It has been brought to my attention that this video has actually earlier appeared on another well-known capoeira blog!  So if you like, you can now have the pleasure of watching it twice.

Click here to see other posts in Capoeira é Dança

Amazonas

Amazonas, appropriately enough, has capoeiristas moving in ways that imitate rainforest animals, as well as more domestic types. It was created by Mestre Camisa of ABADA Capoeira, and is played to Mestre Bimba’s toque of the same name.  It was my friend’s idea to write this post topic, but this video she sent me was the inspiration for actually doing so!  It’s one of my favourites, and one of the coolest capoeira videos I’ve ever seen.  It’s just so creative, and it’s amazing what people can do with their bodies.  (I know that applies to capoeira in general, but somehow it really hit me with this video.)

Jogo de Dinheiro

Jogo de dinheiro, or the “money game”, involves two capoeiristas playing each other with a bill or handkerchief full of coins or money placed in the centre of the roda. The goal of the game is to pick up the money with your mouth, as reminded by the song lyrics in Apanha Laranja: “harvest the orange not with your hands, but with your feet and mouth (‘beak’)”. One source mentioned this was how capoeiristas sometimes battled for their earnings after busking on the streets.  This video is from a Senzala group in Croatia, and just plain fun!  I love seeing how all the capoeiristas block each other from getting the money.

Jogo de Dentro

Jogo de Dentro (“Inside Game”) is generally known as the close (or closed) game where capoeiristas play low, tight and as closely to each other as possible.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find any videos that for sure showed jogo de dentro being played, so instead here’s a video of Mestre Jogo de Dentro, moreover who is playing Mestre Moraes.  Plenty of sweet “gotcha” moments in this one!

Miudinho

Miudinho is a particular type of close, tight game of capoeira created by Mestre Suassuna. In his words:

“The game of miudinho is generating controversy because it is being misinterpreted. People are thinking it’s a new capoeira, and it’s nothing like that. I simply rescued an older capoeira, modernized the manner of playing it, changed the sequences… the name miudinho arose because I was observing that capoeiristas were playing very distant from each other and in our time we played very close; thus, I said to people, ‘I want the game more minute, closer, play very tiny.’ Then, I created a toque on the berimbau. Miudinho is not a new capoeira, it’s a different manner to display capoeira. Just like the games of Iuna and São Bento Grande exist, the game of miudinho exists.” 

The capoeira jogo in this video seems a little more acrobatic than I would’ve expected miudinho to look like, but it’s still really cool.  Another video’s description mentioned how a lot of movements in miudinho are supposed to be more circular than normal so as to fit within a tight space.

I hope you enjoyed finding out about and watching these samples of “creative capoeira”.  :D  If you know of any more capoeira game variations or find cool capoeira videos that do a little something different, please share it with us!

(Click on image for full readability; you may need to click again on next page to zoom in!)

Another fun video showing a couple really dancing it up.  I’m not sure exactly what style of forró this falls under, but it’s fast and energetic.  It also very clearly blurs the line between sensual and sexual (note the non-existent skirt, innuendo, and gyrating), but you can’t say they don’t have skill. XD

Finally, a slightly more formal/”professional”/technical sample, demonstrating the baião style of forró:

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This is a really old video of Mestra Paulinha playing João Pequeno!  If you don’t want to wait through the introductory music, the actual playing starts at about 1:50.

This next video takes place in Costa Rica, with Mestra Paulinha playing capoeira in a roda with a FICA student.

Click here to see other posts in Ie viva meu Mestra

Mestres Take the Day

Let’s Play!

Playas in the Club

Atavism

The Beat Goes On