WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL OF BLACK ARTS
Dakar, Senegal, 1966
In April 2016 it makes 50 years since the journey of Mestres Pastinha, Camaféu de Oxossi, Gato Preto, Roberto Satanás, Gildo Alfinete and João Grande to the Worldwide Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal.
The festival took place during 1-24 April 1966, but the master-angoleiros only flew there on 16th.
M Gildo Alfinete in M Zoião, 1999:
«[M Pastinha] traveled to Africa and had a thrombosis which affected his sight. All the same, Mestre Pastinha participated on the show, stepping up playing atabaque. This was in the Black Arts Festival, where capoeira opened the show where I (Gildo Alfinete) and Mestre João Grande were participants.»
M João Grande em Castro, 2007:
«I started to travel around the world in 1966. I went to Dakar with Mestre Pastinha to the Black Arts Fertival. Me, Gato, Mestre Pastinha, Júlio Roberto, Camafeu de Oxóssi. World Black Arts Festival, by Itamaraty. We went to Africa. The day Mestre Pastinha went to get the passport in Piedade to be able to travel he couldn't climb the stairs any more, he was brought by car, we climbed the stairs with him, I, Gildo Alfinete and Roberto Satanás. Professor Valdir said: «If Pastinha doesn't go nobody goes». Later we traveled. There he didn't play. He almost couldn't see anymore, he sat in the shadow. Played me, the late Gato, Roberto, Gildo. Camafeu played the berimbau. Black Arts Festival of Dakar.
It was very good there. I went with Mestre Pastinha's group, there was Ataulfo Alves' samba group, was Clementina de Jesus to sing and another singer from Rio. Ataulfo Alves with samba. I know that Paulinho da Viola also went. And Olga de Alaketu to make bahian food. From Bahia it was Mestre Pastinha's group and Olga de Alaketu to make food.
Pastinha could see very little. We stayed at the hotel. In the afternoon, on a little square, three boys came. One sat down with a balafon. The other two were shirtless with a tin can tied to their feet. Full of stones, a little tin can. Tap-dancing, doing capoeira all the way. Doing corta-capim, aú, mortal, rolê, doing everything... Mestre Pastinha asked like thie: «How is this dance called. Is this capoeira?» «No, it's not known as capoeira, it's our own dance. We don't know what's capoeira». They spoke in French, but folks translated to us. «Capoeira is in Brasil, your capoeira angola is in Brasil. Our people took it there and now you are showing it here.»»
Images
Location of the apresentation to 10000 people:
Friendship Stadium (opened in 1963, gained the name Stadium Demba Diop in 1985)
O texto
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-CAPOEIRA IN THE BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL
A TARDE (Salvador) - 19/04/1966The angleiros posing for the photo on 16/04/1966.
CAPOEIRA IN THE BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL - Bahia will be represented on the Black Arts Festival which will take place in Dakar (Africa) by a group of capoeiristas, the most famous, chosen by Mestre Pastinha. The capoeiristas who appear on the photo are the following: Mestre Pastinha, Roberto Pereira (Satanaz), Mestre Gato, Gildo (Formado), Camafeu de Ochosse and João Grande. Mestre Pastinha will make a series of demonstrations. His students, today also instructors of capoeira Angola from Bahia, will perform for an internacional audience, which will be present at the Festival, organized by the president of Senegal, Mr Leopoldo Senghor in combination with Itamarati. As another atraction, capoeirista Camafeu de Ochossi will take with him an afro-brazilian recording, which has an accompaniment of berimbau and atabaques, registered officially by Itamarati and by the Afro-oriental Study Centre, with the authentic african music from Brazil, where Bahia is featured and has the most influence. The Bahian delegation before taking off was at the editorial office of A TARDE, an opportunity where it gave thanks to the Director Valdir Freitas de Oliveira, from Afro-oriental Study Centre, where they got the dimplomas, and managed the opportunity to show in a foreign country what Bahia has.