Shayna McHugh
January 2006

In the last few years, we've seen an exponential increase in the number of capoeira's appearances in the media. Capoeiristas are divided on this issue: some celebrate capoeira's increasing recognition and popularity, while others worry that this process will bring about fundamental and damaging changes to the art.

Those who are in favor view any appearance of capoeira in popular culture as beneficial. They claim that capoeira's increased visibility helps advertise the art and encourage people to join. At the other end of the spectrum are those who argue that the media dilutes capoeira and presents a false image of it. They tend to accuse capoeiristas who are involved in these endeavors of "selling out," of sacrificing the art's traditions in order to make a few bucks. There's also the fear that capoeira will become the next trendy workout and end up a pale, commercialized version of its former deep and intricate self.

My own point of view falls somewhere in the middle. Allow me to elaborate some of my thoughts on this tough (and often touchy) issue.

Commercialization is definitely a danger to capoeira, as well as to any cultural tradition that begins to be marketed for profit. Before the 1930s, when no one was trying to make money off of it, capoeira was practiced for free and for fun. But things change as soon as dinheiro enters into the picture and capoeiristas start thinking about how to better market the art. Let's say that the more Mestre X emphasizes flips in his class, the more (paying) students sign up. Sooner or later, Mestre X will start to tailor his capoeira to fit the demands of the market. Some people point out that this is exactly how capoeira regional was created - Bimba packaged the art in a form that would be more palatable and attractive to his middle- and upper-class clientele. Whether he did this for the noble motive of winning legitimization for the art, for the selfish motive of getting rich, or both - and whether regional lost things that were essential to capoeira - is a whole other can of worms that I'll open another time...

However, I don't believe that every appearance of capoeira in popular culture should be frowned upon, because it DOES bring people into capoeira. We non-Brazilian capoeiristas are being hypocritical if we sit on our high horse about this aspect. How many of our first glimpses of capoeira involved a full-blown roda complete with all its music and ritual? I'm guessing very few. Instead we saw “Only the Strong,” or Eddy Gordo, or some guy practicing solo moves in the park; we were intrigued, and we sought out the art. Capoeira is so complex that it can't be fully understood in a lifetime; thus, I don't think we should get our panties in a bunch insisting on presenting a "complete" image of capoeira every time it pops up in a movie or music video.

What we must avoid at all costs is letting these one-dimensional IMAGES of capoeira that appear in the media become the REALITY of capoeira that we practice and live. I wouldn't condemn a group for giving a beautiful, floreio-filled capoeira performance at a halftime show, but I would be concerned if ALL their rodas were flips and no game. I wouldn't slap a capoeirista who pulls out his moves in a dance club (come on, we've all done it!) with the accusation of discharacterizing the art, but I would with an instructor who decides to dispense with the traditional instruments and use only techno music in his rodas. See the difference?

A special word about watered-down forms of capoeira such as "capoeira workout" classes. These, in my opinion, are the practices that most toe the line of changing the art in the name of profit. I would not join one myself, but I don't have anything against them AS LONG AS the instructor makes it clear that he or she is teaching a capoeira-based aerobics class and NOT capoeira. It could even help to give it a different name so that it doesn't get confused with the real art. It runs little risk of damaging actual capoeira as long as it's kept separate and distinct from it. If, however, instructors teach capoeira aerobics, or capo-jitsu, or floreio classes, and call what they're teaching "capoeira" - then we might have a problem.

In conclusion - it is both unreasonable and impossible to expect capoeira to appear in all its profound complexity whenever it appears in the media. Recognizing this, we can preserve the traditions of the art in our groups, so that the people who became interested after seeing "Ocean's Twelve" will find the real thing when they come visit us. Those who really grow to love it will stay, and will become phenomenal capoeiristas. I believe that those who truly seek capoeira will find it - even if they start out self-training or imitating Marc Dacascos - and the world will open up new paths and opportunities for them. By contrast, those who REMAIN training capoeira only to look cool, or only to beat people up, or only to ogle the female capoeiristas, or whatever - these will never understand much about the art, even if they train under the best mestre.

For more about capoeira and the entertainment industry, read this article – although I don't agree with everything, it does make some interesting points.