University of Paris Ouest-Nanterre-La Dfense France
Art of resistance and aesthetic of power
Capoeira is today the second most widely practiced sport in Brazil after football. That said, its reach is worldwide. In Paris, for example, there is not a single gym that does not offer capoeira lessons. The fashion extends to all age groups, races and both sexes. In short, capoeira is considered the best expression of the cultural miscegenation on which Brazil prides itself. However, it must be remembered that capoeira was created by slaves as a response to white oppression. Not that it was a weapon of war used against the whites; quite the contrary, in fact, it was something practiced exclusively within black communities. Nevertheless, it expressed a worldview and experience of life, an ethics and philosophy antagonistic to white culture. Prior to becoming a sport or martial art, this fighting dance is a philosophy in motion, a thought of the body that ran counter to the white system of thinking. It is a musical counterweight that followes a whole other score, with its own rhythm and physics, inventing a new affectivity.