Tag: Boca Rica

Reflexões de Salvador: Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Wednesday, August 13, 2025


Forte da Capoeira
On Wednesday, our final day in Salvador, we returned to the Forte da Capoeira for a private lesson with Mestre Boca Rica. As before, he shared with me stories about his accomplishments as a mestre. He also welcomed several visitors who were visiting the fort.

He and I spent about an hour working on music. We started with the berimbau, then moved to the pandeiro, and finally to the atabaque. He taught me several variations of familiar toques (rhythms) on the berimbau (Toque de Angola and São Bento Grande). He also shared some insights about the version of the toque Cavalaria that was taught by Mestre Pastinha, in addition to its social and historical context.

On the pandeiro, he showed me a way of manipulating the head of it to produce a dynamic, vibratory sound. He also showed me some interesting and beautiful Samba rhythms on the pandeiro. We ended with the atabaque, where again, he gave me some insights on how to improve my playing.

I expressed my sincere thanks to Mestre Boca Rica. His willingness to share his knowledge, his openness, and kindness truly inspired me.

As we prepared to leave the fort, it started to rain. The delay gave me time to remember the Ogun shrine, whereupon I went and left an offering of several coins.

Espaço Cultural da Barroquinha: Exposição fixa Orixás da Bahia
Our last museum-going experience was to the Espaço Cultural da Barroquinha, which featured an exhibition titled, “Exposição fixa Orixás da Bahia.” This exhibit featured statues of various orishas and other objects central to Candomble which were created by the sculptor Alecy Azevedo. The statues were built on the scale of a normal person, adorned in the regalia befitting them, and placed in naturalistic poses. Consequently, each exuded a certain presence that was very discernible. Further, the organization of the space featured two rows of Orixas, one on each side of the narrow chamber with Oxala seated at the far end of the room. This arrangement made the exhibit feel all the more immersive.

Outdoors, just outside of the facility was a shrine to Oxum. It featured a fountain with a representation of Oxum placed above it. Oxum’s colors were displayed, contributing to the calm yet vibrant atmosphere of the setting.

It was a wonderful space and a visually striking homage to this powerful and venerable tradition.

Overall this trip was profoundly moving. It provided so many rich insights into various aspects of Afro-Brazilian history and culture. Salvador is a truly magical place, a city that exudes the beautiful spirit of Africa and its people.

Reflexões de Salvador: Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Forte da Capoeira
Tuesday’s theme turned out to be Capoeira and began with a visit to the Forte da Capoeira/Forte Santo Antônio.This site is an old fort that has been repurposed into a training space for various Capoeira academies, as well as the location of an exhibit that honors the legacies of Mestres Joao Pequeno and Joao Grande. The exhibit features classic photographs of the two masters playing Capoeira against one another. It also showed several instances of them wielding knives during a certain type of game in Capoeira.

The fort also features a magnificent representation of Ogun that one sees upon entering. Further, it contains a shrine dedicated to him where various visitors left coins as offerings.

Several mestres had spaces in the forte including Mestres Boca Rica, Bola Sete, Curió, Moraes, and Nenel. While there I visited the academies of Mestres Boca Rica and Mestre Curió (the only two open at the time). Each of these mestres’ academies were like museums. The walls of the Mestre Boca Rica’s academy were covered with posters, articles, awards, pictures, and other symbols of his many years in Capoeira. The walls Mestre Curió’s academy featured various representations of Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, Capoeira, and his decades long presence in the art, in addition to two shrines.

I spent a great deal of time visiting with Mestre Boca Rica, as he shared a great deal with me about his life in Capoeira including his travels, awards, various published works featuring him, and the masters that he’s produced. He took great pride in having produced many masters, considering them as a part of his legacy. He expressed his concern about the distortion of Capoeira’s history–particularly among Capoeiristas in the United States–with people denying its African origins. Further, he expressed his commitment to the maintenance of the art’s tradition and authenticity.

He and I also played some Capoeira music and sang songs together. I was so impressed by his generosity with his knowledge and his skill with the instruments, that I asked if I could return the next day to train with him on the various instruments one-on-one. To which he agreed.

Fundação Mestre Bimba
The final activity of the day was a visit to the academy of Mestre Nenel, son of Mestre Bimba and founder of the Função Mestre Bimba and the group Filhos de Bimba. His academy is located in Pelourinha in a small, but dynamic training space.

I arrived to find Mestre Nenel working on making instruments. I greeted him while I waited for class to start. I was soon joined by over a dozen other visitors, most of whom were from other Capoeira groups in the US, who had also come for class.

Class was taught by two of the mestre’s professors, who, due to the size of the group, divided the class into two groups and taught each group one at a time, with one group taking the floor after another. Their method of teaching was exceedingly efficient and made very effective use of the limited space. The highlight of the class however were the two-person drills, which focused on the application of various takedowns to different types of attacks. Despite my nineteen years in Capoeira, this phase of the class was the most interesting and also challenging. Finally, the class ended with a lively and energetic roda.