Capoeira Comes to Taipei

About a month ago, my friend arranged for a demonstration of her favorite pastime to be put on at a favorite Taipei salsa spot... Brown Sugar. This was due to the arrival of a Capoeira teacher from Brazil. Shapely and athletic, with 2+ feet of braided hair half tied up in knots on her head and all dressed in white, she came out carrying a berimbau (instrument with strings and played with a bow). She was followed by my friend and a local group of Taiwanese Capoeira enthusiasts. They made a circle and the teacher commenced playing the berimbau and singing/chanting in Portuguese. Another girl accompanied with the pandeiro (tambourine) and all the others in the circle clapped in time to the rhythm and echoed the teacher's lyrics. Two people entered the roda (circle). WOW! They performed a sweeping defensive dance around each other while kicking, flipping, spinning and executing other acrobatic feats.... all in rhythm with each other and the berimbau. I was hooked even before the teacher took her turn.





(Above pictures are from Capoeira site on the Internet, they are not of the group in Taipei... Will replace with pics of the local group after digital camera is repaired.)

After the first time, I had blisters on my toes and I could barely move the whole day after practice... But this week was better than last and I am looking forward to learning more. If you live in Taipei, there will be more demonstrations this weekend (at Club 75 on Saturday and Brown Sugar on Sunday). I think there will also be open Capoeira in Ta'an park every Sundays at about 4:00. This will be the chance to learn to play berimbau, pandeiro, and atabaque (regular practice uses recorded music).