Interview with Mestre Acordeon
One of the most reknowned and recognized capoeira masters in the world today, Mestre Acordeon arrived in the United States in 1978 with a vague notion of establishing the art here. Now, twenty-five years later as head of the United Capoeira Association and owner, operator and master of the Capoeira Arts Cafe in Berkley, California parts of his vision has been realized. In this interview from 2001, Planet Capoeira asked the esteemed mestre some questions about that vision and his work to date.
Q: How has the Capoeira Arts Cafe in Berkeley been doing?. Where did the idea come from to combine a Capoeira academy, art gallery, and a coffee bar?
The Capoeira Arts Cafe is doing fine. We have a good number of dedicated students, and little by little, we are establishing ourselves as a solid Brazilian cultural center within the Berkeley community. The concept of combining a Capoeira school and a show place is not new. Capoeira and other cultural activities - including good food go hand in hand. Since I came to the United States in 1978 I had the goal of developing a school such as the Capoeira Arts Cafe. However, it took a long time and lots of work to transform a dream into reality.
Q: What do you offer at the Capoeira Arts Cafe?
We have a large space in a continuous environment. The cafe area at the main entrance is managed by Dae Beck, a very active and experienced coffee shop entrepreneur. In the seating area, we have the art gallery in which we promote monthly multi-media expositions by local and visiting artists. The art gallery connects the cafe to the Capoeira floor. In terms of Capoeira activities, we have 29 classes per week and, once in a while, we promote dance parties and shows, or rent out the place for casual events. Our physical facilities also allow the development of many other activities. It is a lively nucleus from which we can launch other Capoeira related projects such as our CDs, books, video tapes and so on.
Q: Your book, ?Capoeira: A Brazilian Art Form? has been quite successful. Did you accomplish what you wanted to with that book?
Only partially. I had great deal of difficulty in writing that book. My command of the English Language was not sufficient to put on paper all of my ideas and I regret this fact. Of course, some of my students helped me to edit the work which came about slowly and under tremendous effort. If I had to do it now, it would be different. However, it represents the best I could put out at the time.
Q:It seems as if the focus of that book was on your personal journey in Capoeira. It addressed some of the deeper spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of the art. Was this done on purpose?
Yes, it was. I wanted to give to my students a little bit of the context in which Capoeira thrives. As I use to say, Capoeira is a cultural transplant in the United States and it is important that my American students learn about Capoeira beyond its movements. In reality, the book which is in print at the moment is its third version. The first one came out in a xeroxed copy format. The second, which I published myself, was sold to North Atlantic Books. After they sold out that edition in 1986, I revised the material, including some new parts and extracting others to be published later. Among those parts we took out was a small instructional section that I did not have the energy to revise for publishing.
Q: I see you have a new book coming out soon in English. What will be the focus of this one?
As a matter of fact, I have three new projects to be published soon. The first one is a kind of Technical Manual. I do hate ?cooking books? about Capoeira. However, I have received hundreds of emails requesting such a work. I'll try my best to go beyond the simple mechanics and to bring up elements that are essential for a good jogo de Capoeira. This book will have a companion training video, as well as a CD-rom. The second project is much more appealing to me. I just finished about 15 hours of recorded interview for the Legacy Project. The Legacy Project is a non-profit organization with the goal of registering the life and contribution of artists at risk in the San Francisco Bay area through an oral tradition approach. Thanks to God, I'm not at any risk at the moment, but I was one of the artists chosen to participate in this project. I had difficulty reading the raw material in the recorded interviews but, there are lots of interesting elements that can be consolidated in another book. Third, I just finished a book in Portuguese, "Agua de Beber Camara: Um Bate-papo de Capoeira!" This project began as the Portuguese translation of the book "Capoeira - A Brazilian Art Form". However, I was incapable to do it in this way and it ended up in another direction. I condensed and rearranged some passages of the book in English and presented it as if I were giving an informal lecture to a group of capoeiristas in Brazil. By the end of this year I will have another book in Portuguese, covering some elements of my concern about contemporary Capoeira and its history in a non-academic point of view but, nevertheless, presenting credible basis for my arguments. I also intend to bring this book to the English language.
Q:You have a new CD out soon also. Are you happy with it? How will it be available?
I am happy with our new CD ?Cantigas de Capoeira? for several reasons. Initially, I did not want to embrace this project because I was concerned about the amount of work involved. I consider myself just a capoeirista and everything that I do beyond playing Capoeira demands lots of energy and sweat. However, Mestre Ra who is my partner in the Capoeira Arts Cafe, convinced me to go for it, swearing allegiance to the project. We did it together with our students. Therefore, I am happy because of the involvement of so many of us and because of its musical quality. There is a huge amount of Capoeira recordings in Brazil at the moment. Most of them were made without money, without good production and, in some cases, without talent. I understand how fortunate we were to be able to produce a CD in the way we did. Another reason for my happiness is the fact that our CD has creative elements and reflects the joy of Capoeira?the art of fighting with a smile on the face. Recently, Capoeira has been presented as such a serious and "traditional" art form that it becomes a bit too precious and redundant. Representatives of this misguided concept claim that their Capoeira is "more traditional" or "more efficient" than the other ones and that they recorded this or that CD "to preserve and to rescue the original Capoeira music". Well, let me be candid. We did our CD for the fun of it and for capturing a little bit of that special joy that often manifests in good rodas de Capoeira .
Q: Do you think that the philosophy of Capoeira is difficult to impart to students outside of Brazil?
It is, and the reason is the cultural differences between the United States and Brazil. We are less formal in Brazil and somehow less organized, living in the moment, and doing Capoeira just for the fun of it. In the U.S., we are more goal oriented and institutionalized, expecting to learn Capoeira in the same way we learn everything else.
As Capoeira has changed throughout the times, it will also adapt to the different locations in which it thrives. However, we should not promote unnecessary changes just to suit perspectives and expectations outside of Brazil. Those changes should only happen progressively and in a natural way. This is a far distant concept to be grasped in the fast paced and pragmatic society of the U.S. which wants to see immediate results. So, as we say in Brazil, "chicken soup and lots of caution" (canja de galinha e muita cautela) is necessary to navigate in the Northern seas.
Q: How have you seen Capoeira change in the last 20 years?
I have seen changes not only in the last 20 years but in the last 40 because I started playing Capoeira in 1956. This, however, is a subject for another interview. I promise you a new one if your readers like this one.
A longer, second interview with Mestre Acordeon appears in Issue 2 of Planet Capoeira Magazine
Written by Brian Donnelly. Brian is the editor of Planet Capoeira and the overall Planet Capoeira dude. Also known in capoeira circles as Pardal. Brian started training capoeira in 1996 with Mestre Bom Jesus in New York City and holds a blue-orange cord much in need of further seasoning. Brian would like to say he has beeen incredibly consistent in his approach to training capoeira, but then he'd be lying. He also has a personal, non-capoeira related blog known as The Miniblog.
I really like the way Mestre Acordeon answered the question in regards to imparting the philosophy of Capoeira to students outside of Brazil. I agree with his statement; "we should not promote unnecessary changes just to suit perspectives and expectations outside of Brazil", as it applies to all things in life, not just to Capoeira, and not just to Brazil. In today's society the ideology of relativism has changed the way we interact with one another, the way live, the laws we pass, and the way think. I'm not a very political person, but with the all theses activist groups that exist today, insisting that our governments, schools, and faiths recognize their existence, and demanding change in order to suit their needs...it nice to hear that a prominent figure in the world of Capoeira wants to remain true to his roots.... and not bend in the face of an ideology that has crippled the minds of our nation. Capoeira is an art, a culture! It?s not a degree you achieve in four years at an Ivey League school. North American's want everything now, but learning the art of Capoeira comes with time, practice, patients, and most importantly a smile on your face at all times!
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