Body Games Capoeira and Ancestry

A Film by Richard Pakleppa, Matthias Röhrig Assunção and Mestre Cobra Mansa. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art that combines dance, combat, theatre and music. Capoeira was first documented among enslaved Africans and Creoles in Brazilian port cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia. It is the only martial art with an African heritage now practiced world wide. One powerful myth about its African origins links capoeira to a legendary Angolan game called engolo. Jogo de Corpo/Body Games follows capoeira master Cobra Mansa and his friends on travels through Angola and Brazil in search of the historical roots of their art. The journey explores deeper connections between slavery, identity and society. In Jogo do Corpo we meet colourful characters on both sides of the Atlantic: capoeira masters Boca Rica, Celso, Moraes and Felipe and engolo players Angelino, Kahani, Muhalambadji, and Lombolene. @capoeirahistory is happy to make this film, produced in 2013-14, freely available.