«Bahia, capoeira on the beach»
Itapuã beach
Information
Recorded in 1960. Singing M Waldemar [in 1955].
Episodes of Voyages sans passeport present images, accompanied by music taken from discs and a commentary based on notes sent by the traveling cameraman; the producer remained in Paris. The music that accompanies capoeira was recorded by Simone Dreyfus in 1955 in master Waldemar's barracão. This master can be seen in the shots.
Cameraman: Peter Solange
Producer: Irène Chagneau
The narrator (Irène Chagneau):
To wind down after work, the port workers, and the plantation workers came together to dance capoeira. It is an extremely unusual dance, which originated in Angola a long time ago. There are two musical instruments, a pandeiro, which is a tambourine, and a berimbau, a stringed instrument with a sound box, in this instance, a half calabash. An old coin is used to change the pitch, while you strike the steel string with a stick, the Baqueta, to produce a weird sound.
There are pirouettes and games, it almost seems to be more than dance, a form of relaxation. It is all done joyfully.
