Capoeira Esperança

In this performance/demonstration/workshop, participants will experience and learn about this acrobatic martial art/dance form developed by African slaves in Brazil as a “game” to avoid being detected during forbidden strength and self-defense training. The program, which covers the history of capoeira, its origins as an Angolan street-fighting technique, and its role in the context of an enslaved people’s culture, is led by the founders of a Connecticut-based capoeira school. The program features dance, song, music played on traditional Brazilian instruments, and an after-show talkback. Capoeira Esperança shows how music and dance united enslaved people in Brazil around the culture and practices brought from Africa, enabling them to develop strength and resilience and overthrow their masters.