Associação Cultural de Capoeira Angola
Capoeira School in Manchester & Leeds

Capoeira Angola is inextricably linked to the transatlantic slave trade. The artform was introduced in Brazil by the enslaved people who had been brought from Africa. The Portuguese colonizers of Brazil attempted to erase the cultural heritage of the people they had taken by converting them to Christianity, changing their names, making them speak Portuguese and generally forbidding any practices that were reminiscent of their motherland.

Capoeira Angola was born from a resistance to these rules and is heavily influenced by several martial dances that originated in West Africa. It evolved further within the "Quilombos" which were communities made up of people who had escaped slavery, indigenous people and some Europeans, being used as a form of defence and empowerment. These roots can still be seen today in the instruments, rhythms and movements of Capoeira Angola. The preservation of tradition is immensely important to the artform and is passed down from generation to generation of Capoeiristas orally by the "Mestres" (masters). Through the wisdom and tuition of the Mestres the integrity of the artform and a link with history is maintained. This is particularly important as most records were destroyed when slavery was finally abolished, resulting in many stories of slavery to go unheard.

Due to the nature of Capoeira Angola as a form of physical, mental and political resistance against oppression it remained an illegal activity in Brazil right up until the twentieth century. Following the abolition of slavery, unemployment and poverty led to many social problems in Brazil and some Capoeiristas used their skills for the purpose of crime - leading to Capoeira being regarded as a deviant practice by the rest of society.

Capoeira was eventually legalised in Brazil in the 1930's when the govenment agreed that Capoeira could be taught within academies with significant changes made to all aspects of the music, movement and ritual of Capoeira. Many practitioners of Capoeira Angola believe that these changes were a deliberate dilution of the more African-rooted elements of the artform in order to serve the government's political ends. Up until this time there was only one name for the artform - Capoeira, however following this splitting of styles practitioners of the traditional, unaltered form of Capoeira chose to refer to it as Capoeira Angola - to emphasise it's roots to African culture.