Yes, it's 90 degrees downtown but that makes movement even easier, says Heidi Wert, (top photo, left/center, in orange). Her Lancaster Capoeira group gathers Tuesdays around 6:30 pm to practice this acrobatic form of martial arts that originated in Brazil. In the video below are Staci, Brenda, two guys named Robert, and other dancer/fighters (Beth and her baby, Corey, watch from the sidelines). They form a circle, singing and clapping to the music, while a pair of fighters dance in the center. People take turns playing the berimbau, a single-stringed instrument that looks like an elongated archer's bow, and the caxixi, a shaker that accompanies it, and the pandeiro, a tunable, handheld drum with metal jingles.
As two dancers circle each other, their movements are fluid, with a lot of rocking back and forth until, suddenly, a sweeping kick barely misses an opponent's nose.
"Slow!" shouts Heidi. "Slow down the kick, that way it's harder."
It's also a demonstration of one's level of power and control. And that's what the game is all about.
As two dancers circle each other, their movements are fluid, with a lot of rocking back and forth until, suddenly, a sweeping kick barely misses an opponent's nose.
"Slow!" shouts Heidi. "Slow down the kick, that way it's harder."
It's also a demonstration of one's level of power and control. And that's what the game is all about.
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