Bahia |
A
state in northeastern Brazil. It has the highest percentage
of Brazilians of African descent and is internationally
known as a center of Afro-Bahian culture. Bahia is known
as the "cradle of capoeira" because it was the
only place that capoeira survived the intense police persecution
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the art then
spread from Bahia to other cities in Brazil and subsequently
other countries.
Bahia
minha Bahia / Capital é Salvador
Quem não conhece capoeira / Não pode dar seu
valor
Bahia, my Bahia / Its capitol is Salvador
Whoever doesn't know capoeira / Cannot give it its value |
Balançar |
To swing,
to sway.
Nem tudo que
reluz é ouro / Nem tudo que balança cai
Not everything that glitters is gold
/ Not everything that sways, falls
|
Bananeira |
Banana
tree. In capoeira, it is also used to refer to a handstand.
Meu facão
bateu embaixo / A bananeira caiu
My machete struck low / The banana
tree fell
|
Baqueta |
Thin
stick used to hit the arame and thus play the berimbau. It
is usually made of beriba wood, but can also be made of ticum
or bamboo. |
Bará |
A quality
of Exu, the being believed to be the messenger between men
and the gods. Bará refers to the private or personal
character of Exu inside each divine or mortal entity.
Ô Besouro Preto,
Ô Besouro Preto, Bará
|
Baraúna |
A type
of large tree.
Baraúna
caiu, quanto mais eu
The tree fell; how much more likely
am I to fall?
|
Barravento |
From
barlavento, a nautical term meaning “the side
from which the wind blows.” It can also signify a person
losing balance, as though they felt a slight dizziness. In
certain candomblé lineages, it is the name of a fast
percussion rhythm and also the shaking of the body that one
experiences just before being completely possessed by one’s
orixá.
Valha-me Deus, Senhor
São Bento / Vou jogar meu barravento
Help me God, Lord Saint Benedict /
I ’m going to play my barravento
|
Barro
Vermelho |
A place
on Itaparica Island.
Lemba ê, Lemba
/ Lemba do Barro Vermelho
Lemba, Lemba / Lemba of Barro Vermelho
|
Bater |
To hit,
to beat up.
Não bata
na criança que a criança cresce
Quem bate não se lembra, quem apanha não esquece
Don’t hit the child, because
the child grows
Whoever hits never remembers
Whoever gets beaten up never forgets
|
Bateria |
The
orchestra of capoeira. The types of instruments used to form
the bateria depend on the style of capoeira. Rodas of capoeira
angola typically use three berimbaus (a gunga, médio,
and viola), one or two pandeiros, an atabaque, agogô,
and reco-reco. Rodas of Mestre Bimba's traditional capoeira
regional use one berimbau and two pandeiros. Rodas of capoeira
contemporânea are in between, typically using more instruments
than Bimba's regional, but fewer than capoeira angola. |
Batizado |
Baptism.
It is the initiation of new students into the capoeira group.
This tradition was started by Mestre Bimba in the 1930s; the
batizado consisted of the initiates' first time playing in
the roda to the sound of the berimbau. In modern batizados,
new students receive their first cordão (cord)
as well as an apelido (nickname). The batizado often
happens together with a troca de cordões (changing
of cords), in which more experienced students can advance
from one cord level to another. Batizados are usually held
once a year and also include workshops with invited mestres
as well as performances of other cultural traditions such
as maculelê, samba de roda, and Afro-Brazilian dance.
Capoeira groups of the regional and contemporânea styles
practice the tradition of the batizado, whereas groups of
capoeira angola do not. |
Batuque |
Batuque
was another Brazilian dance with African roots; it used
to be played in Bahia until the early twentieth century,
but is now extinct. The players would form a circle; one
player would stand in the center while another tried to
knock him down with trips and blows with the legs. A similar
game called pernada existed in Rio de Janeiro.
Mestre Bimba's father was said to be a champion of batuque,
and Mestre Bimba may have taken certain movements (such
as vingativa as well as the various types of banda) from
batuque and incorporated them into his capoeira regional.
"Batuque"
was also a more general term used to refer to any practice
that involved drumming, such as capoeira, candomblé,
samba, and percussion. |
| Beriba
Biriba |
The
wood used to make the berimbau.
Beriba
é pau pra fazer berimbau
Beriba is the wood used to make the
berimbau |
Berimbau |
Musical
bow, the main musical instrument of capoeira.
More info.
Berimbau é um
instrumento tocado de uma corda só
Berimbau is an instrument with just
one cord
|
Beira |
Edge,
side.
Na beira do mar, na
beira do mar
Aprendi a jogar capoeira de angola na beira do mar
On the seaside, on the seaside
I learned to play capoeira on the edge of the sea
|
Bem-ti-vi |
A small
bird common in Brazil. Its name means “nice to see”
– it has a black and white head, yellow belly, and brown
wings.
Bem-ti-vi jogou gameleira
no chão
The bem-ti-vi bird threw the fig tree
to the ground
|
Besouro |
Beetle.
The nickname of a famous capoeirista from Santo Amaro, who
was said to be able to turn into a beetle and fly away when
in a tough situation. See "Who was Besouro?"
for more information.
Zum
zum zum, Besouro Mangangá / Batia na polícia
de soldado a general
Zoom zoom zoom, Besouro Mangangá
/ He beat up the police soldiers and generals |
Boi |
Ox,
bull.
Laça o
boi, vaqueiro / Não deixe o boi escapar
Lasso the bull, cowboy / Don’t
let it escape
|
Bom,
boa |
Good
(bom is the masculine form and boa is the feminine form).
O menino é
bom, bate palma pra ele
The boy is good, clap your hands for
him
Roda é
boa, roda é boa / Capoeira a roda é boa
The roda is good, the roda is good
/ The capoeira roda is good
|
Bonito,
bonita |
Beautiful.
Jogo de dentro, jogo
de fora / Jogo bonito é o jogo de angola
Inside game, outside game / The game
of angola is a beautiful game
|
Brevenuto |
A proper
name (also bevenuto). Derived from the Italian word
for welcome: benvenuto.
Sou eu sou eu / Quem
vem lá? / Sou eu Brevenuto
It’s me, it’s me / Who
goes there? / It’s me Brevenuto
|
Brincadeira |
Playfulness.
Vamos começar
a brincadeira / Abrincadeira de capoeira
Let’s begin the playfulness
/ The playfulness of capoeira
|
Bujão |
A cylinder
of gas. In Brazil, it can be used as slang to describe someone
who is short and stout like a gas cylinder. It can also have
the connotation of being rather dense and dim-witted. Mestre
João Pequeno wrote the following song for his grandson,
“who is very fat.”
Ô bujão,
ô bujão, ô bujão / Capoeira angola
não tem agressão
Oh bujão, oh bujão,
oh bujão / Capoeira angola does not have aggression
|
