Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 103
Figure 4.4 Jogo de dentro with cabeçada (head butt) (left) and tesoura (‘scissors’) (right), both at the ramp near
Mercado Modelo, in the port area. Photos by Pierre Verger, 1946–7. By kind permission of the Pierre Verger
Foundation.
In the interval of a job (carreira), under the weight of sacks and burdens, one turned the body and
there [another] one went into the air with a head butt worth of a mestre, or went to the ground with the
sweeping kick. And, pulling on one single foot, drawing pirouettes, one reassumed one’s burden and
returned to the job. 28
There was more time for rest between the arrivals of ships in the harbour. Sources often mention games
taking place on the ramp leading to the main market, Mercado Modêlo, in the port area. Porters also
lingered around their ‘corner’ waiting for clients. Capoeira, just as the working environment of the harbour,
was a predominantly male world (see Figure 4.4).
Yet capoeira was also played in the lower-class neighbourhoods, in particular on Sunday afternoons. Any
open space would serve the purpose, but sometimes practitioners erected special barracks (barracões) with
palm-thatched roofs. 29 The districts listed by Edison Carneiro as holding regular rodas included ‘proletarian
neighbourhoods’ all over the city, from Massaranduba to Retiro, and from Capelinha de São Caetano to
Amaralina. 30 Undoubtedly during those gatherings informal apprenticeship took place. This kind of local
practice also developed neighbourhood identity and solidarity, in particular in the more recent quarters of
the city that was growing steadily beyond its established core areas. Noronha lists as many as 35 different
morros (hills and shantytowns), which he and his group used to visit on Sundays, and in all of them ‘there
were only tough capoeirista [who knew how] to give and take’. 31 Capoeira was also played on the open
space in front of a bar. On these occasions it was common for capoeiras to consume alcohol between
games. Sometimes they performed in order to obtain money or drinks from spectators or the owner of
the bar. 32
Capoeira became even more visible during the different festivals celebrated in the city and the
surrounding Recôncavo. Between August and November each gangway (escada) along the quayside in
Salvador’s harbour organized its own commemoration. These ‘gangway fiestas’ aggregated different
categories of port workers, sailors, ship owners and tradesmen using that particular point. It was usually