The Jogos 2004 International Capoeira Competition will be held on Friday, November 5th from 6pm-10pm. The best ABADÁ-Capoeiristas in the U.S. will compete for slots on the U.S. Team, which will be traveling to Rio de Janeiro in August 2005 to represent the U.S.A. at the International Games. Competitors from all over the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and Brazil will be in San Francisco to participate in this unique event, bringing together some of the world’s best capoeiristas for performances of capoeira and maculelê, and amateur and graduate-level competitions. This spectacular athletic and artistic event is a rare opportunity to witness the international evolution of capoeira from its rising stars to Master artists of great historical significance.
Tickets: Adults $10 in advance, $12 @ door, Youth (5-17 years) & Seniors $5. For ticket info, please call 415-206-0650.
Location: ABADA-Capoeira San Francisco's Brazilian Arts Center, 3221 22nd St. (@ Mission St.) San Francisco, CA 94110.
Capoeira (pronounced ka-poo-e-da) is a dynamic Afro-Brazilian art form unique to Brazil, which developed during the slavery era through shared cultural customs, rituals, and fighting techniques. Capoeira was born as an expression of resistance and resilience. Slaves used capoeira to fight to escape and resist capture, but concealed its combative purpose through music, song, and dance. After the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, capoeira was illegal and its practitioners were socially ostracized for over forty years.The legendary Capoeira “Mestre,” or Master, Mestre Bimba rescued the art form and proved its legitimacy, opening capoeira’s first official school in Bahia, Brazil in 1932. Capoeira has developed into a means of empowerment and a forum for social and cultural exchange. It is now an internationally respected art of grace and strength that combines ritual, self-defense, acrobatics, and music in a rhythmic dialogue of the body, mind, and spirit.
