Capoeira, Covid and the Dance of Life

Members of Cordão de Ouro training capoeira during lockdown. https://cdob.co.uk/bbc-one-oneness-ident

I recently listened to this episode from Noah Rasheta’s Secular Buddhism podcast: The Dance of Life. I often mention this podcast to friends and family because the questions and ideas that Noah discusses have helped me to understand and process past traumas, relationship dynamics, and to negotiate the doubts, disappointments, and emotional excesses that we all confront on a daily basis. While listening, I immediately thought of capoeira as both a symbol of and vehicle for navigating life’s many trials and tribulations, which we could approach as a dance.

In his podcast, Noah often refers to life as a Tetris game. We tend to feel angry, hurt, and cheated when unexpected shapes fall from the sky that we need to scramble to fit into our carefully orchestrated (but ultimately arbitrary) plans and routines. Noah suggests we can learn a new dance to adapt to and accommodate unforeseen and unwelcome situations and events that arise, to negotiate the inevitable ups and downs of human existence.

At the time of writing, in March 2021, the world has been fighting a global pandemic for almost a year. Covid-19 presents a Tetris shape that we never knew existed, and that has decimated lives and livelihoods across the world. Although hardly a dance, we will have hopefully learned some valuable lessons during this nightmarish situation: the need to support key workers (and pay them more), the need for community, for face-to-face interaction, for embracing the outdoors, for art and music as a means of connection and self-expression, for exercise to support our mental health. Basically, anything that makes us human, that unites us in our common lived experiences, and that gives us respite from the mechanised, routine, goal-oriented existence that we are led to believe are the markers of happiness and success.

One of the biggest challenges for me during lockdown has been to adapt to taking capoeira classes online. I am ashamed to admit that I have gone for weeks without training because – along with the practical limitations of doing handstands, cartwheels and kicks indoors – it has been too hard to accept the loss of interaction with my capoeira group, which has sustained me physically, emotionally, and spiritually for so many years. But capoeira has adapted, as it has always done, which is the key to its survival. The transition to online events has brought the world of capoeiristas closer together, albeit virtually. I am a member of several WhatsApp groups where students in different countries motivate each other to practise music by sharing videos of us singing our favourite songs. The pandemic has meant that students can take part in events, discussions, and classes with teachers in Brazil and countries around the world. And though hardly replacing the energy and exchanges of knowledge and personal interactions during physical events, these virtual capoeira meetings have – for many – provided a vital source of income, connection, and publicity for capoeira researchers and group leaders.

Summer Festival with Núcleo de Capoeiragem. Nothing compares to the interaction and energy in a live roda!

Capoeira represents a Dance of Life not only in how it adapts to unforeseen circumstances but also because it celebrates living in the present. In his podcast episode, Noah plays the famous clip where philosopher Alan Watts speaks about dance and music, whose beauty and meaning lie in its journey: “When dancing, you don’t aim at a particular spot in the room. That’s where you should arrive. The whole point of the dancing is the dance.” Many practitioners refer to capoeira as a dance, but also as a philosophy, a mindset, or a way of life. One of the mysterious beauties of the art form (and why it appeals to me, like so many) is that the joy of capoeira lies in the journey, in the unfolding of the spontaneous, interactive game between two players in the roda (circle), by living in the present continuous with a community of like-minded people. Like reading a book, watching a film, or listening to music, practitioners find joy and meaning in the process of learning, and in playing in the roda, rather than in arriving at a fixed destination or reaching an ultimate goal, conclusion or finale.

Our teacher, Mestre Claudio Campos, often tells us that capoeira differs from other martial arts in how we receive belts. In our group, when we train we are not consciously aiming to obtain our next belt, and when you do receive it, it is not with the assumption that you will become complacent and stop learning (after 35 years, Claudio says he still has plenty to learn!) There are always new songs to sing, new movement combinations to improve. Every interaction in every roda is unique and it will test you and teach you something new that you didn’t previously know about yourself. When Claudio decides it is time for us to receive our next belt, it is in recognition of the commitment and progress we have made, rather than a future goal to achieve. In capoeira, you play in the present, and reflect backwards to appreciate where you have come from, rather than forwards into the daunting and unfathomable future (Claudio often tells us that when you begin capoeira, it is hard, and the longer you train, the harder it gets!) This differs from how we ordinarily value progress in our everyday lives (planning our next holiday, house move, or career change). It is important to have things to aim for, of course, but if we are overly fixated on fictitious future success, we may only build ourselves up for disappointment if these don’t come to fruition.

Capoeira can teach us many things, but maybe the most important lesson is to situate the purpose of our lives in the present, rather than in the future, and to accept and adapt to situations that we can neither predict nor control. Perhaps by adopting an attitude of curiosity, humility, and spontaneity, by approaching life as if it were a dance, we might lead richer, happier, and more mindful lives. But maybe this is wishful thinking.