2003- Sao Paulo- Third National Capoeira Congress

Figure 1: Nametag of an invited delegate to the National Capoeira Congress.
CONCEPTUALIZING CAPOEIRA:


THEORETICAL & METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

August 17, 2003, São Paulo
The most emotionally charged and potentially explosive moment of the Third National Capoeira Congress came when one of São Paulo’s oldest mestres took the podium. Overcome with emotion during the presentation by a young delegate from his state who supported the regulation of capoeira by the Federal Council of Physical Education, Mestre Pinatti, well into his 70s and walking with a cane, struggled uninvited onto the stage. Reaching the microphone, he raised a clenched fist and cried: “Capoeira is culture, not sport!” The deafening cheers from the floor were testimony that his opinion was shared by many of the gathered delegates. Encouraged, Mestre Pinatti went on to criticize the explicitly political atmosphere of the congress -- sponsored by the PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil) -- and admonish his fellow capoeiristas to be wary of politicians whom he directly blamed for the “big mess the country is in.” In a voice trembling with emotion he closed his speech with, “At times I am prouder of being a capoeirista than a Brazilian!” An even stronger wave of cheers surged through the audience and a number of the older, prestigious mestres rushed onto the stage to shake his hand, tears in their eyes.
FUENTE: HARD PLAY: CAPOEIRA AND THE POLITICS OF INEQUALITY IN RIO DE JANEIRO, KATYA WESOLOWSKI, Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2007