Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

236 NOTES
40 See the film ‘Vadiação’, director Alexandre Robatto, 1952; and the discussion in K.K.Bonates, Iúna
Mandingueira, a ave símbolo da capoeira (Manaus: Fenix, 1999), p. 54.
41 Abreu, Bimba é Bamba, p. 40.
42 Itapoan, A saga, pp. 61–2, M.Acordeon, Capoeira, p. 113.
43 For a good description, see Acordeon, Capoeira, p. 118.
44 This comparison is explicitly made by B.Almeida (M.Acordeon), Água de beber, Camará. Um bate- papo de
capoeira (Salvador: UCA, 1996), p. 50, and M.Itapoan, A saga, p. 84.
45 Downey, ‘Incorporating’, p. 227; Itapoan, A saga, pp. 83–5.
46 Itapoan, A saga, pp. 73–7; Vieira, O jogo, pp. 156.
47 Vieira, O jogo, pp. 144–71.
48 Rego, Capoeira angola, p. 59; also listen to Bimba’s LP.
49 See the extensive discussion in Bonates, Iúna Mandingueira, pp. 51–6.
50 In 1936, for instance, Bimba’s group performed on the Municipal Square with 2 berimbaus, 3 pandeiros and 1
ganzá. Abreu, Bimba é bamba, pp. 30–1.
51 Decânio, A herança, pp. 169–70.
52 See the verses reproduced in Moura, Mestre Bimba, pp. 72–7, and comments by Downey, ‘Incorporating’,
pp. 137–8.
53 Itapoan, A saga, pp. 79–80; M.Sodré, Mestre Bimba: corpo de mandinga (Rio de Janeiro: Manati, 2002), p. 78.
Acordeon, Á gua de beber, p. 50 explains that the toque ‘Panha Laranja no Chão, Tico-Tico’ was only played to
announce the end of the sequences training and the beginning of the game within the academy.
54 The best information on this aspect of Bimba’s life is given by Sodre, Mestre Bimba, pp. 92–7.
55 See the samba-de-roda recordings on the LP by Mestre Bimba e coro, Le-le ô a turma de Bimba chegou.
(Salvador: Liceu de Artes e Ofícios da Bahia, 1991).
56 Itapoan, A saga, p. 63.
57 Vieira, O jogo, p. 161.
58 Silk scarves were traditionally used to protect the shirt from dirt and sweat in the neck area.
59 M.Camisa Roxa asserts that Bimba abolished the ‘take away the medal’ test (arranca-medalha) because it often
had resulted in accidents. Interview in Roda de Capoeira. A revista do capoeuropa, No. 1 (July 1998), p. 7.
60 For the graduation ceremony, see Rego, Capoeira Angola, pp. 286–7, Itapoan, A saga, pp. 67–72, Decânio, A
herança, pp. 166–7, Vieira, O jogo, pp. 159–61.
61 For a reproduction of the symbol see Itapoan, A saga, p. 104 or the CD Essência. O berimbau e a voz do eterno Bimba
(Salvador, Fundação Mestre Bimba, 2001).
62 Decânio, A herança, pp. 105–7.
63 For a list of names see Moura, Mestre Bimba, pp. 26, 29.
64 Abreu, Bimba é bamba, p. 25.
65 I have not been able to find solid evidence for the date of that meeting. There is also some divergence regarding
the whole episode. According to Decânio, A herança, p. 107, Cisnando Lima, a personal friend of Magalhães,
made the initial contact. M.Sodré, Mestre Bimba, p. 93, suggests that links were established through the world of
candomblé (Magalhães used to consult and protect the priest Bernardino from the Bate-Folha shrine). M.Itapoan,
however, told me that this rather happened through one of the Interventor’s body guards, also from Ceará
(interview with M.Itapoan, 27.1.1997).
66 Rego, who knew Bimba well and often interviewed him, gives a full account in Capoeira angola, p. 315 and
includes the text of a letter by Magalhães confirming the exhibition at the palace.
67 Vieira, O jogo, p. 171.
68 Rego, Capoeira, pp. 282–3.
69 Itapoan, A saga, p. 44. Many books or journals reproduce pictures of that meeting. See for instance the photo of
Bimba with Vargas, the governor of Bahia and the mayor of Salvador in Revista Grupo Muzenza 01, n.d., p. 5; or
C.Barbieri, Um jeito brasileiro de aprender a ser (Brasilia: DEFER/GDF, 1993), p. 136.
70 Decânio, A herança, p. 106.