Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, created by enslaved Africans and hidden through dance and music. Capoeira is played as a game between two practitioners inside of a circle of spectators, other capoeira players, and a band of musicians.

 

This beautiful and strong martial art came to be in the mid-1500s, when enslaved Africans were torn from their homes and shipped to the newly discovered Americas. Under the watchful eye of the slave owner, capoeira appeared as a harmless dance with music. After the abolition of slavery in 1888, capoeira survived in the poorer neighborhoods (despite persecution from police) until its legalization in the 1930s.

​

Today, capoeira is celebrated and practiced around the world.