By Alyssa Julie
Friends she’s met through Capoeira call Jessie Read Espiga de Milho—or “stalk of corn.” She gained the nickname, chosen for her long, wheat-coloured dreadlocks, when she was baptized as a Capoerista.
Capoeira, which started in Brazil, is a passionate fusion of martial arts and dance. There is only one established group in Ottawa, but the art is quickly gaining in popularity.
Read, 29, took up the art after seeing a performance in the Byward Market six years ago. Fascinated by it, she joined the Dende do Recife Capoeira group and started studying under Contra-Mestre Fabio Cuencas.
She enjoys Capoeira, she says, because of the community and because it’s a great way to stay in shape.
“I don’t work out in cardio rooms–it’s not my thing,” she says, and adds, “by doing Capoeira, you learn about the ideas behind Capoeira and you learn a lot about your own body.”
The ideas and history behind Capoeira are what make the art so intriguing. It was developed by African slaves in the 17th Century. When slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, the freed slaves moved to the cities and, finding no employment, often joined criminal gangs.
At the same time they continued to practice Capoeira, and so the art became associated with poverty and crime. It was outlawed in 1890, but the ex-slaves continued to practice it in secret in order to learn to fight and to transmit their culture.
They used nicknames, given at a traditional naming ceremony called batizado, to hide their identity—a practice that lives on.
“Their body was the only weapon they had against oppression and slavery, so they learned Capoeira to defend themselves,” explains Contre-Mestre Cuencas, the only Capoeira “master” in Ottawa.
He created the Ottawa group, Dende do Recife, when he moved to Ottawa in 1999. He teaches five days a week, but the classes are divided into intermediate, advanced and beginner levels.
“Right now it’s kind of a new trend,” he explains. “I’ve been receiving so many phone calls from people interested in learning it.”
When he first started teaching in Ottawa, he says, there were only eight to 10 students. Now, there are about 75 students, rangin in age from 15 to 30.
He teaches a traditional style of Capoeira indigenous to his home town, Recife–the capital city of the Pernambuko state in Brazil.
“It is Capoeira that our master in Recife and our teacher here call very primitive,” says one of the students, Sebastien Dagenais.
Dagenais has been practicing the art for five years. He was a breakdancer in university and says he fell in love with Capoeira because it seemed like a synergy of breakdancing and martial arts. It combined battling and improvisation with the discipline and technique associated with martial arts.
When Daganais and Read begin to play, it’s easy to spot elements of dance.
First some students form a circle (roda) around them and others play music to set the tempo. They sway to the music and move in unison. As Read kicks toward the left of Dagenais, he ducks and rises on the right of her leg pushing upwards and quickly moving towards her. She must swiftly regain her balance.
It’s physically challenging and both agree it improves both endurance and reflexes.
“In practical terms, when I’ve tripped and fallen I haven’t hurt myself,” jokes Read, who has learned how to respond quickly and cushion her fall.
But Capoeira also engages participants mentally, helps build self-confidence and inspires vigilance.
“You always have to watch your back in Capoeira. It has to do directly with life in Brazil, in that it’s very hard and very dangerous.”
It’s not for everyone, says Dagenais. “But people who love it will stick around through thick or thin.”