Capoeirence 2008

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So after a brief stop in Natal, I headed off to Fortaleza to meet Soraia. In fact, we saw absolutely nothing of Fortaleza as our reason for going there was to attend Capoeirence 2008 - the annual capoeira meeting of Mestre Espirro Mirrim (Cordão de Ouro) in Portal da Lagoa - Fortaleza.
We spent three days there doing workshops in capoeira, afro, samba and forró. For those interested in capoeira it was amazing - there were arouind 22 Mestres from different groups including Mestre Suassuna, Mestre Barrão, Mestre Suino, Mestre Jogo de Dentro, Mestre Cobrinha Mansa, Mestre Iranir, Mestre Deputado and many more that I forget now. For those who dont know about capoeira - it was like a meeting of superstars - being able to hear Mestres Suassuna and Barrao sing live songs that I´ve heard only on their cds was amazing. And the standard of the games in the roda was really inspiring. The weekend ended with a really chilled evening with a small group of people who still had some energy left. We sat singing songs and drinking beer and then made the short 4 km walk to the beach to watch the sunrise. Not so bad on the way, nightmareon the way back - I swear I was sleepwalking most of the way. Then it was back on the bus to the airport to head to our next destination.

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Photos

Soraia and I
First night - before the aches and pains started:-)

Soraia at the foot of the berimbau
First night - before the aches and pains started:-)