Capoeira displays its Brazilian and African martial arts roots in dance and music

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EL PASO — In the Capoeira Quinto Sol studio in Central El Paso, dozens of people recently practiced gingas, aús, and escorpião kicks to the beat of an exotic wooden bow-shaped instrument called berimbaus and a drum called atabaque. The dancers were preparing for the worldwide Brazilian batizado celebration. Capoeira is a type of martial art with roots in Brazil and Africa and was developed by the African slaves that were brought to Brazil in the 16th century to work the sugarcane plantations by the Portuguese. Because Capoeira uses elements of dancing in its execution, the African slaves used the ruse of dance to avoid being punished by their Portuguese masters for practicing self-defense methods. Although Capoeira was, at first, developed for self-defense, it can also be practiced for many different reasons.

Brazilian studies add a dash of samba to the salsa

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EL PASO — With the sexy swaying of samba rhythms and outrageously mechanical capoeira moves, Brazilians and El Pasoans took over the dance floor while others enjoyed the taste of typical Brazilian meals. Green, blue, and yellow Brazilian colors were displayed in flags, T-shirts, and balloons, splashing the spirit of Brazil onto the Mexican-American border city. The University of Texas at El Paso is known as a very cultural university that celebrates different ethnicities. With Ciudad Juarez as a neighbor, most of the students at UTEP have Mexican backgrounds. But UTEP has a wide variety of international student organizations and study programs like the Brazilian studies program that was implemented three years ago.

Brazil — A New Superpower in the Americas

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EL PASO, Texas — Beyond colorful bikinis and carnivals, Brazil increasingly draws more attention to its emergence as a rising world superpower. “Brazil must have done something right,” said Heitor Santos, specialist in Brazilian politics, in a discussion panel held recently during the second annual Brazilian Festival at The University of Texas at El Paso. Besides publicizing Brazil’s international economic and social influence, its samba steps and Capoeira moves, the annual festival aims to create a greater understanding of the growth and cultural richness of this nation also known as the verde amarela. As part of Brazil’s economic success, Santos pointed to the country’s production and sales of flex-fuel vehicles, which burn either ethanol, gasoline or a mixture of both, and the semi- public oil company Petrobras, which recently discovered a new oil reserve off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. “Brazil used to export to the U.S. 22 percent [of all exports] and they brought that down to 14 percent, becoming a good model to Mexico and other countries that are totally dependent on the U.S. economy,” said Cesar Rossatto, a UTEP professor of US-Latin American studies.