Hi again!
I was planning to continue the discussion on the musical aspects of capoeira that I'd started last time, but I am too excited after our first capoeira workshop from Monday night, and I want to share how it went with you all. We had four highly motivated women who came to work hard and have fun at the same time. We covered a lot of ground, from discussing basic history about the art form, fundamental movements and stances, and got comfortable moving across the floor. We also started to apply the moves we learned - how to defend from a kick and escape. We learned a song (while simultaneously clapping) and how to play the various percussion instruments. Finally, we put it all together in a roda, and everyone was able to use their new moves to play capoeira with a partner.
It was inspiring for me as an instructor to see everyone's enthusiasm and positivity while trying a new, strange physical activity for the first time. The beginning of anyone's capoeira journey is inevitably fraught with awkward and uncomfortable moments. But it's amazing to look back a few months later and acknowledge how much we can learn, and how much more that remains to be explored with our bodies! Capoeira is such a dynamic activity, it gives us an opportunity to experiment with ideas related to our bodies in space. Some things work, and some don't...yet. Some movements feel awkward at first, but a few months later, feel like you've always done them. Some movements will always feel strange. Then, there's who whole process of having that physical conversation with another person while playing capoeira in a roda, or even training with a partner. Spatial awareness and timing are two very important ingredients in capoeira, and we get to hone those senses through training. We'll discuss those topics in a future post.
Jon broadcasted the workshop live on Facebook (see below) and I think it's great that these folks now have a record of their very first capoeira class to look back on in a few months or years and see just how far they will have come!
Based on this successful workshop, I'm happy to announce that we will be officially launching a weekly class at 8pm on Monday nights at Hyper-Active Monkey Fitness! Every month, my home capoeira group and neighboring groups organize an open roda - an event where many capoeiristas come to play together, usually in a public place like a park or plaza. Folks training at Hyper-Active Monkey Fitness will be encouraged to participate in those events and apply the skills they learn here out in the "real world". We recently had a roda, and I'll write about it in the next post when I discuss more about the musical aspect of capoeira.
Let's get moving!
-Megha Makam
