Comments (2) Here is the birthday song in Portuguese. We sing this song for all of the birthday rodas so get to know it. I included a pretty awesome video for you to sing along with. (No, really, this video is great!)
Parabéns pra você
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vida!
Have you ever been in a roda where everything appears to be going well. The energy seems good, everyone is having a good time, and then……BAM! someone is getting slapped up. What just happened? Why is that poor guy getting worked out there? Well, chances are that guy probably broke some sort of capoeira code.
The code that I talk about is the code that we caporeirstas use when we go to open rodas or visit another school’s roda. There are a lot of unspoken rules to the game. Sometimes mestres/instructors are so kind to share those rules with their students, but there are a lot of rules and many of these rules go untaught. To make things more complicated, these rules tend to vary depending on what region you are in. So with that said, this will be part 1 of a multiple part series on capoeira ettiquette. These are the things we have been taught by our mestres and what we have observed over the many years of playing in different rodas in Brazil, Europe and throughout the US.
Tip #1
How to visit an open roda….
Visiting rodas is a simple thing however we have witnessed so many students get themselves in trouble because they were oblivious to the ettiqutte. When visiting the roda you MUST ALWAYS identify the mestre or instructor leading the roda and find a way to awkknowlege them and ask permission to enter the roda. If you can’t figure out who this person is, ask. Once this person is identified, find a way to get permission to play. If they are playing the berimbau, often times this comes in the form of the visiting student giving them a nod and the leader will give them a nod of approval.
OK. You got the go ahead to play. Cool, but not so fast. There are a couple more rules that you need to follow before you get too comfortable.
Now that you got the in it is time for you to observe what is happening in the roda! What is the energy like, who is playing and what is the atmosphere of this roda? Is it really aggressive with only the big dogs playing or does it seem more relaxed with a mixed group of levels. If you are a beginner or even an intermediate student think twice about entering the roda if only really advanced students are playing. Even if you think you can hang, chances are you will kill the energy and folks will be thinking that you may be a little too confident.
Despite the energy, your next step is to offer to jump on the instruments. If you are not so good with the berimbau, stay away but offer to play the other instruments. Often times than not, the students will tell you to go play in the roda. Don’t take offense, you are the visitor and they want to see you play. You are merely offering to play instruments to show that you want to add to the energy of the roda and that your intentions are not to take advantage.
So you got permission to play, you checked out the energy and have decided that this roda is appropriate for you and you offer up your assistance to play instruments. You are now ready to play a little capoeira. I will leave you with the final rule, if they are buying the roda be careful where you buy from. Some schools buy at the berimbau and some buy from anywhere within the roda. Make sure to do whatever that school does. If they buy at the berimbau, then so are you. I have witnessed mestres stopping rodas because a visiting student bought wrong. You definitely don’t want that person to be you.
Palhaço and Mestre Carlos used to sing this song a lot back in the day. In fact, I think some of our final video footage with Mestre Carlos is with him singing this song. This song is great sang when the roda is going at a medium to high tempo because it really adds energy.
| Capoeira é ligeira | |
|---|---|
| Capoeira prá estrangeiro, meu irmão É mato Capoeira brasileira, meu compadre É de matar Capoeira prá estrangeiro, meu irmão É mato Capoeira brasileira, meu compadre É de matar Berimbau tá chamando olha a roda formando vá se benzendo para entrar o toque é de Angola São Bento pequeno, Cavalaria, Iúna a mandinga do jogo o molejo da esquiva é prá não cochilar Capoeira é ligeira, ela é brasileira, ela é de matar Capoeira é ligeira, ela é brasileira, ela é de matar Capoeira prá estrangeiro, meu irmão É mato Capoeira brasileira, meu compadre É de matar Capoeira prá estrangeiro, meu irmão É mato Capoeira brasileira, meu compadre É de matar Olha o Rabo de Arraia Capoeira prá estrangeiro, meu irmão |
Capoeira for strangers, my brother? Is jungle Brazilian Capoeira, my comrade Is deadly Capoeira for strangers, my brother? Is jungle Brazilian Capoeira, my comrade Is deadly The berimbau is calling Look at the roda being formed Get a blessing before entering The rhythm is Angola São Bento pequeno, Cavalaria, Iúna The magic of the game the swiftness of the dodge Is to not lull Capoeira is swift, she is Brazilian, she is deadly Capoeira is swift, she is Brazilian, she is deadly Capoeira for strangers, my brother? Is jungle Brazilian Capoeira, my comrade Is deadly Capoeira for strangers, my brother? Is jungle Brazilian Capoeira, my comrade Is deadly Look, a Rabo de Arraia Capoeira for strangers, my brother? |
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