Vou dezir a meu senhor, que a mantiega derramou
I had my first capoeira music class yesterday. It was also my first class taught by Mestre Valdir (equivalent to Kyoshi Richards at karate) rather than Formada Vicky (equivalent to a first or second dan black belt, I think). We did an hour of music followed by an hour of playing. I can now sort of play the tambourine! Things I have learnt:
- In Portugese, D is pronounced like J (unless it's at the beginning of a word?) and R is pronounced like H (sometimes). Mestre Valdir = Mestre Valjir. Roda = Hoda.
- The responses to two of the capoeira songs. (They're like Portugese sea shanties. Call and response.) The one quoted in the title, and parana e, parana e, parana. Two pandeiro (tambourine) rhythms. I'm going to need to multitask; I have trouble singing and clapping at the same time, let alone singing and playing.
- I'm not ready to try and lead a song yet. Cue wail of: "I can't do this, I'm sorry, I can't sing and I can't speak Portugese and I've never done this before."
- I'm going to have to learn Portugese. The Formada and the other senior students sometimes use it when talking amongst themselves, but the Mestre uses it all the time. (The Formada did translate for him. I wasn't totally lost.) In karate, you can get by, gradually picking up the Japanese from context. The Sensei says "rei" and everybody immediately bows, it's pretty obvious what rei means. She constantly refers to "gedan barai, your lower sweeping block", and eventually you realise that gedan is always lower and barai is always some kind of sweep. The Portugese in capoeira is a bit more total-immersion. Also, there's all the singing.
- The bateria (musicians) is led by the berimbau (um... sort of a musical longbow with a gourd on it? Originally African. Much cultural significance). The central berimbau player is like the lead violinist in an orchestra. Then you have a varying number of other berimbaus, pandeiros, and another hand-held drum I don't know the name for.
- Roda (playing circle) etiquette, sort of. The roda is run by the bateria. The speed and style of music dictates the speed and style of capoeira. You wait to play squatting at either side of the bateria. Then you enter the circle without standing up, and if they've started a new song, wait for the chorus. Then shake hands with your partner, do a kind of sideways-handstand-bow to the bateria, and cartwheel into the centre. Play until the lead berimbau calls you out again by hitting the string repeatedly. Then shake hands with your partner, touch the ground in front of the bateria, and leave the way you came in. You can also ask to cut in by putting your hand in between the players (at your own risk), but this is best left to the senior students, towards the end of the roda, when the music speeds up and the playing gets more chaotic.
- The songs are oral history. They're about life in slavery, or kind of Brazilian spirituals, or the importance of capoeira, or the importance of the berimbau, or the exploits of various capoeira Mestres.
- I remember jinga (the basic back-and-forth dancing movement), three kicks and two evasions from my first class two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Formada taught us six kicks and four evasions. Ah well.
This entry was originally posted at http://frightened.dreamwidth.org/38064.html. Comment where you please.
- In Portugese, D is pronounced like J (unless it's at the beginning of a word?) and R is pronounced like H (sometimes). Mestre Valdir = Mestre Valjir. Roda = Hoda.
- The responses to two of the capoeira songs. (They're like Portugese sea shanties. Call and response.) The one quoted in the title, and parana e, parana e, parana. Two pandeiro (tambourine) rhythms. I'm going to need to multitask; I have trouble singing and clapping at the same time, let alone singing and playing.
- I'm not ready to try and lead a song yet. Cue wail of: "I can't do this, I'm sorry, I can't sing and I can't speak Portugese and I've never done this before."
- I'm going to have to learn Portugese. The Formada and the other senior students sometimes use it when talking amongst themselves, but the Mestre uses it all the time. (The Formada did translate for him. I wasn't totally lost.) In karate, you can get by, gradually picking up the Japanese from context. The Sensei says "rei" and everybody immediately bows, it's pretty obvious what rei means. She constantly refers to "gedan barai, your lower sweeping block", and eventually you realise that gedan is always lower and barai is always some kind of sweep. The Portugese in capoeira is a bit more total-immersion. Also, there's all the singing.
- The bateria (musicians) is led by the berimbau (um... sort of a musical longbow with a gourd on it? Originally African. Much cultural significance). The central berimbau player is like the lead violinist in an orchestra. Then you have a varying number of other berimbaus, pandeiros, and another hand-held drum I don't know the name for.
- Roda (playing circle) etiquette, sort of. The roda is run by the bateria. The speed and style of music dictates the speed and style of capoeira. You wait to play squatting at either side of the bateria. Then you enter the circle without standing up, and if they've started a new song, wait for the chorus. Then shake hands with your partner, do a kind of sideways-handstand-bow to the bateria, and cartwheel into the centre. Play until the lead berimbau calls you out again by hitting the string repeatedly. Then shake hands with your partner, touch the ground in front of the bateria, and leave the way you came in. You can also ask to cut in by putting your hand in between the players (at your own risk), but this is best left to the senior students, towards the end of the roda, when the music speeds up and the playing gets more chaotic.
- The songs are oral history. They're about life in slavery, or kind of Brazilian spirituals, or the importance of capoeira, or the importance of the berimbau, or the exploits of various capoeira Mestres.
- I remember jinga (the basic back-and-forth dancing movement), three kicks and two evasions from my first class two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Formada taught us six kicks and four evasions. Ah well.
This entry was originally posted at http://frightened.dreamwidth.org/38064.html. Comment where you please.