Guimares Audio Clip and Transcript
Interviewer: Patricia Bulitt
JG: Capoeira was a dance brought by the slaves from Africa and what happened was – because they were black – they [were] poor people – they [were] taken as criminal because Capoeira is very acrobatic and it’s [a] self-defense dance. I can talk afterwards about that, but just to give a little bit, a little bit back….
So, they used to play Capoeira and dance Capoeira, the martial dance, you know - in front of the military band; and in 1930’s the government prohibited Capoeira because it was too dangerous, but they can’t stop a cultural dance.
PB: They can’t stop a cultural dance?
JG: No!
PB: That’s an important statement right there.
JG: What they did – what the people did was they kept in front the band, pretending [they were] dancing something else. That’s how the Frêvo started because Frêvo – if you see Frêvo, if you see Capoeira, Frêvo is taking a lot from Capoeira.
PB: And do you know approximately what year they outlawed Capoeira?
JG: Okay, that was like the ‘30’s I believe.
PB: In 1930?
JG: Yeah, so Frêvo is still a dance in progress, it’s still a lot of new steps coming up; and so, what they did, they used a little umbrella to do some acrobatics, with the umbrella, but that umbrella could also be a weapon.
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