Prototype Issue
Bringing it Back Home: The African Art Form Flowers on Crenshaw
By Jason Venzor
(page 1 of 1)Capoeira is a martial art that has reinvented itself drastically throughout history. A rite of passage among Africans for many centuries, Capoeira incorporates music, call-and-response participation and physical sparring, emphasizing kicks, head butts and leg sweeps.
Though its origins are disputed, one theory has it that Capoeira was an Angolan courtship ritual brought to 16th century Brazil by Africans transported there in the bellies of slave ships. According to the Grammy-nominated master of Capoeira, Mestre Moraes, it was at this time that the art was transformed from a cultural-initiation ceremony to a weapon of liberation in both Africa and Brazil.
As a martial art, Capoeira was illegal for hundreds of years in Brazil. Those who practiced it were more likely to break free from their so-called masters. Capoeira became the domain of upstarts and rebels—taught in secret even after Brazil officially abolished slavery in 1888.
In the post-slavery period, Capoeira was looked at as a pastime of vagabonds and fugitives and remained illegal until 1918. After that, a distinction was drawn between the traditional Capoeira (Capoeira Angola) and a new version—mixed with elements of other martial arts and philosophies (Capoeira Regional). It would not be respected until years later, deep into the 20th century.
Eventually, both styles of Capoeira were exported throughout the world. Locally, Capoeira is offered in various contexts and philosophies. It is taught as a full-body workout and cultural art form. It is also offered in Brazilian and Pan-African contexts, the latter exploring its origins among the Bantu, Nago and Dahomey peoples. There is also a commercially exposed form of Capoeira, featured in big-budget movies, commercials and videos.
Folks interested in performing Capoeira Angola gather weekly on Crenshaw Blvd. in Leimert Park. The gathering is free and open to all, like the regular drum circles at Venice Beach. Participants blast traditional music designed to mystify the mind and open the portal which connects the present, visual world to the place where ancestors dwell.
Omoade Neff, a Haitian-born teacher at the Capoeira Angola Center of Los Angeles, organizes the Leimert Park gatherings. Neff teaches in communities that struggle with violence, poverty and oppression at the hands of both criminals and police.
He is contracted to teach at elementary schools in Watts, downtown LA and Inglewood, and he runs a Capoeira Angola academy at the AFIBA Center on Crenshaw Blvd. Step into his classroom and you won’t see people flying through the air. No muscle-bound dancers checking themselves—and each other—out in the mirror. Not a g-string in sight.
What you will see are students wearing white pants and shirts, comfortable shoes and determined expressions as they slither along the floor, careful not to sully their clean whites. They walk on their hands slowly, deliberately.
There is a reverence about the place, but the scene is far from morose. Neff and his students laugh and tell jokes in a relaxed manner that contrasts with the cultural weight of the art they practice so joyfully. They are learning a discipline that requires them to master movements and music (including the construction of instruments), and to develop muscles and character that will be tested both within the art and in life beyond it.
Omoade sees potential for modern liberation in Capoeira Angola: “It’s a revolution of the mind. Before you have a revolution, you have to have people of a proper mindset to participate in it. I see it as something people use to elevate themselves to think about community, to think about society. It gives them a different paradigm. A lot of people who do Capoeira Angola do other things—work with youth [or] demonstrate against injustice.”
At times during the class, people are more engaged in social organizing than in the physical training. One, it would seem, sustains the other.
On a Sunday afternoon, just outside Earle’s Grill in Leimert Park, Capoeiristas come together. Students from overseas who are looking for a place to play Capoeira Angola meet at this infamous ’hood in South Central. But in spite of the social ills that surround them, the art is lovely and joyful. Members of the ensemble throw each other wry grins and knowing glances. Young and old, they have re-established the link to the Capoeira of old.
There are schools of Capoeira in other neighborhoods, and there is a proven market for the art on the west side and even in Beverly Hills. But Neff is committed to teaching it in South Central: “This is where it needs to be,” said Neff. “Capoeira’s home is right here.”
“This is where it needs to be. Capoeira’s home is right here.”
AFIBA Center 5730 Crenshaw Blvd., LA 323-291-8723 www.angolacenterla.com & www.myspace.com/angolacenterla.
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