How did you get your start in Capoeira?  What drew you to it?

Esquilo - I practiced Wing Chun Kung Fu for a couple years and was searching for a new school in Vancouver where I lived at the time.  During this process, a friend told me about capoeira which he described as "a martial art done to music and a super intense work-out."  That initially drew me to it as I loved all of those aspects.  After I took my first class, I was totally hooked!

Joy - I've always loved sports. For many years, I swam competitively on swim teams in New York City. When I got tired of swimming, I started looking for other interesting sports/ activities to get into. A friend of mine suggested that I check out capoeira and so I searched classes in the area. After my first day of class I fell in love with it.

What is Capoeira to you?

E - At this point in my life, capoeira is a grounding force.  Both as an outlet, in a physical, emotional, and spiritual aspect, and also as a strong supportive community. The movement, music and traditions of capoeira are positive mediums to connect with ourselves and others in an open, authentic way.  When we become adults, we seem to lose our sense of playfulness and become somewhat disconnected.  Capoeira has always been something that brings me back to the present moment when I get stressed out or too serious about life.  After playing, or training, I always feel lighter.

J - Capoeira is my passion and it gives me strength. It is my physical outlet and stress relief, but more importantly, it inspires me to be a better person and motivates me to give back to others. Capoeira keeps me grounded and humble, it always takes me back to "me".

What's your favorite thing about Capoeira???

E - It's hard to choose just one aspect, which is a reason why Capoeira is so amazing.  One is the music.  It's extremely powerful.  Another is how capoeira is constantly changing and evolving.  There is always something new to learn.

J - There are so many great things about capoeira, that it's really is hard to choose one thing specifically. My favorite thing about capoeira is that I am constantly learning something new.  I love the fact that you can't do capoeira alone. One of my favorite aspects in capoeira is meeting/connecting to new people.

What have been some of the bigger challenges you've encountered in your Capoeira careers???

E - Changing groups in 2000, our teacher leaving the group in 2005, a dislocated shoulder in 2007.  Learning to balance politics in capoeira. 

J - The biggest challenges that I've encountered in my capoeira career was our teacher leaving the group in 2005, the transition from student to teaching/leading a Capoeira Brasil branch in New York and emotionally overcoming two knee surgeries.

What's the most significant insight you've learned about Capoeira from teaching Capoeira???

E - That you can learn from anyone (no matter what their level) whether you are a student or teacher.  Approach everything with a beginner's mind. 

J - I agree with Esquilo, that you can learn from everyone.

There are three different Capoeira Brasil groups in New York City.  In what ways do you feel that affects the NYC Capoeira Brasil students and teachers?

??Joy and Esquilo - It's great, it's like having your cousins or members of your extended family in the same city!  We're lucky because we have access to a lot more events and rodas in NYC compared to in other cities.  We try and support each other best we can despite everyone's busy New York schedules. 

How do you apply what you know in Capoeira to your outside careers in education and nutrition???

E - Outside of capoeira, I run a holistic health and nutrition practice (www.EnergizingNutrition.com).  In capoeira, you have to learn to "go with the flow," there are really no set rules. It's similar with eating...each individual has their own unique path.  If you try to follow a strict diet, it doesn't work for long.  You have to figure out what works for you as an individual. Following something outside of yourself or comparing yourself with others will only work temporarily and lead to frustration.   So you have to develop yourself from the inside out to create what you want.  When you incorporate this guideline in your every day life, it's liberating and you're more free to create your own path.  ?Capoeira is a holistic art form (in that it addresses the mind, body, and spirit), so working in holistic health and nutrition is one medium of re-connecting with your roots just like making the connection between what you eat and where it comes from.  When you take the time to do that, your life opens up in many ways.  Capoeira is something that "feeds, energizes us," just like good quality, whole, fresh foods! :)

J - In capoeira, there are various ways to answer the questions that your opponent may propose to you during a capoeira game. Every person has his or her own diverse way of expressing questions and answers that create unique form of physical dialogue. As an educator, capoeira reminds me about the importance of diversity. When creating a lesson, I think about the diverse types of learners in my class and how I can address each one. For example when creating a lesson plan, I may implement various teaching styles/methods such as guided discovery, reciprocal and divergent discovery etc. into my lesson to address the various learners in my classroom which may help increase a successful learning environment and increased success in learning. In education, capoeira has helped remind me that there can be many solutions to a question and that there may not only be one way to get there. 

?What is A Maré Subiu?

??J and E - A Maré Subiu means "the ocean rose."  As a group when we were brainstorming about the name for the event, we thought of the song which has the chorus "A Maré Subiu". We thought of some of the properties of the ocean and water: feminine, powerful, free-flowing, strong and soft depending on the context.  We thought this was really symbolic of women and also of the nature of capoeira.  It was appropriate because it also played into the theme of "raising the level of play" about encouraging female capoeirisitas to step up and into their role as strong leaders in their own capoeira groups and communities.

?What is the motivation / idea behind it?  What's its goal?

??E - In 2004, Joy and I helped our teacher at the time, Contra-Mestre Jo, organize a women's event in NYC.  We didn't know what to expect, but there was a huge response and women came to participate from all over the country.  It was really inspiring to see so many women capoeiristas together and the energy and enthusiasm it generated.  From that event, we realized that most female capoeiristas don't have access to strong high-level female role models.  As well, it was apparent that giving women more of a chance to play in the rodas was important.  ??Our goal for this event is to create a positive environment and bring women capoeiristas together so they can meet each other, network, and see strong female capoeiristas and teachers.  We feel this will help raise the level of play for women in capoeira and also provide a forum to discuss obstacles unique to women in the art form.  ??It's important to mention the amazing women capoeiristas before us who really paved the way for more women to start and stay in capoeira.  Contra-mestre Jo, Mestranda Edna Lima, Mestra Sue-Elly, Formanda Magali, Formanda Colibri, and many more...all these women started capoeira at a time when there were hardly any women practicing, they had so many more obstacles than we do today.  This provided motivation for us, seeing and meeting these women provided a mirror for us.  Now that we're teachers, we feel it's important to create positive opportunites for other women in capoeira.  It is inspiring to watch our own generation of capoeiristas grow up and see our peers start their own work in capoeira.  This event is also a way for us to come together and share our work and play with each other!?

For those who haven't attended a Capoeira women's encounter before, what can they expect?

??J and E - We can only speak for our event and not for every women's encounter as I think each is different in their goals and objectives.  For ours, expect some great workshops led by some really talented female capoeira teachers and lots of energy and axe.  The event is open to men and women, we are just highlighting women teachers and having rodas in which the women get more playing time.  We already have more than 100 participants from 10 different groups coming from the U.S., Canada and Europe...so you're going to meet a lot of new people and see a lot different styles.  Mostly our intention is that you have fun, so expect to have a good time!

New York hasn't had a women's encounter in years.  Is A Maré Subiu going to be a singular event or are there plans to turn it into regularly scheduled encounter???

??J and E - No set plans as of yet.  We're just going one step at a time and see how this one goes and go from there.

??If people want to learn more about A Maré Subiu, where should they go?

??J and E - They can go to www.capoeirawomen.com.  Also, people can also contact us through our website at ?www.capoeirabrasilnyc.com.

Is there anything else that you'd like to mention that we haven't discussed yet?

J and E - We'd like to give a special thank you to Instructor Tuzinho for co-organizing the event as well as Mestre Boneco who gave us his blessing to do the event. 

Photos by Sophia Wallace via www.capoeirawomen.com