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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 793.31981
EAN num: 9780195176971
ISBN number: 0195176979
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: March 03, 2005
Publishing house: Oxford University Press, USA
Sale Popularity Level: 235719
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
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Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art is a provocative look at capoeira, a demanding acrobatic art that combines dance, ritual, music, and fighting style. First created by slaves, freedmen, and gang members, capoeira is a study in contrasts that integrates African-descended rhythms and flowing dance steps with hard lessons from the street. According to veteran teachers, capoeira will transform novices, instilling in them a sense of malicia, or 'cunning,' and changing how they walk, hear, and interact.
Learning Capoeira is an ethnographic study based on author Greg Downey's extensive research about capoeira and more than ten years of apprenticeship. It looks at lessons from traditional capoeira teachers in Salvador, Brazil, capturing the spoken and unspoken ways in which they pass on the art to future generations. Downey explores how bodily training can affect players' perceptions and social interactions, both within the circular roda, the 'ring' where the game takes place, as well as outside it, in their daily lives. He brings together an experience-centered, phenomenological analysis of the art with recent discoveries in psychology and the neurosciences about the effects of physical education on perception. The text is enhanced by more than twenty photos of capoeira sessions, many taken by veteran teacher, Mestre Cobra Mansa.
Learning Capoeira breaks from many contemporary trends in cultural studies of all sorts, looking at practice, education, music, nonverbal communication, perception, and interaction. It will be of interest to students of African Diaspora culture, performance, sport, and anthropology. For anyone who has wondered how physical training affects our perceptions, this close study of capoeira will open new avenues for understanding how culture shapes the ways we carry ourselves and see the world.
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Rated by buyers 
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Greg Downey is his book "Learnig Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art" strikes at the some of the very important fundamentals of Capoeira that every practitioner from Angola to Regional should hold close.
He speaks from a backround in sociolgy and phenomenolgy. His arguments are strong whilst his stories entertaining. Neither form of Capoeira is looked over nor does he argue for one particular style, he gives a wonderful overview of the mythologies, teachings and importance of Angola and Regional.
A great book and a wonderful learning tool.
Rated by buyers -
A must buy for anyone serious about capoeira, especially those who are practicing capoeira angola.
Rated by buyers -
the title of this review may be a surprise to some, considering that greg downey is neither brazilian, nor has he really spent a huge amount of time studying capoeira (no more than five years, if i recall, and only with a medium intensity). and yet, this book was a better read than almost any other capoeira book i have ever read in english (i own them all up until the date of this writing, nov 2005). this is, of course, not to take away from nestor capoeira or mestre acordeon's books. both of these authors have produced valuable additions to a capoeirista's library and should be picked up as well.
this book does not teach you moves but, then again, capoeira has never really been about moves; it is about moving. greg downey guides you through what it is like to learn capoeira, and what it is like to see through the eyes of someone who has gained experience in the game and learned to see with the eyes of a malandro, shows you how you will be changed if you go deep into the game. there are quotes from joao pequeno, joao grande, mestre moraes, as well as many other renowned mestres of capoeira, and lots of great stories.
downey's book is based upon experience with capoeira angola with GCAP in bahia, and you may find yourself more attracted to it if you practice angola, rather than regional or contemporary capoeira. but whatever you play, you will probably learn a lot from this book. i for one am very happy i picked it up, and have passed it on to my contra-mestra. i am confident she will enjoy it as well.
Rated by buyers -
Greg Downey's book is a delight to read! The writing style is clear, the approach is innovative, and the topics covered are both timely and relevant to today's burgeoning interest in the arts of Capoeira. This book combines the best coverage on Capoeira's cultural history (similar to Acordeon's or Nestor's foundational books), but adds a new twist: the lastest scholarship on "embodiment" (that is, how to talk about experiencing the Body as a way of knowing). Downey's book is remarkable for giving us the benefits of his well-informed research across several fields of study without getting overly bogged down in jargon (of phenomenology, for example). Of the many intriguing chapters, several of the most compelling insights come from sections such as: Listening with a Musician's Hands, Hearing with a Player's body, Moving Like a Mestre, and the Rogue's Swagger. Downey's coverage of "the malandro," the "chamada," and "malicia" stands as among the most perceptive I've read in the 8-10 books in English that have been published on Capoeira. This book seems well-poised as a "bridge": appealing to capoeiristas as well as to those approaching capoeira from more of an outsiders' stance. For both sets of readers Downey's book puts us into the place--and space--of Capoeiristas' bodies. We experience, through his words, how to walk, how to fall, how to see, how to hear the berimbau, how to swagger, how to dissemble--in short, many lessons in the craft and cunning of this disarmingly simple yet complex tradition. Axe ASCAB!
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