| Roda Magazine Interviews Mestre Itabora | | Print | |
| Capoeira Features: Interviews |
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Written by Bedirhan Cinar
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 19:00
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 Mestre Itabora (berimbau), Mestre Loremil Machado (berimbau), Mestre Acordeon (berimbau), Mestre Preguica (standing), Mestre Marcelo (atabaque), Mestre Camisa (pandeiro), Mestre Jelon (crouching), and Contra-Mestre Pilao (crouching) in New York in 1985. Original photo credit unknown. Mestre Itabora of Quizumba Capoira is in NYC this week making the final preparations for this Saturday's US Open Capoeira Tournament. Roda Magazine was lucky enough to grab an interview with him about his thoughts on Capoeira, insights he has gained over the years, and the motivations behind putting together the tournament. Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How long have you been playing Capoeira? 34 years. How did you get your start? What drew you to it? I live in a neighborhood in Rio that has a lot of Capoeira tradition (LAPA) so I grew up with lots of Capoeira around me, and also very famous Capoeiristas around me so I eventually followed the same path. One aspect of the art that always grabbed me was the rhythm and the singing. I started playing drums at age ten when I started my initiation in Candomble, so seeing Capoeira?s music and drumming was a fascinating feature for me.  Mestre Itabora, Contra-Mestre Guerreiro, and Instructor Sabia in New York in 2008. What's the most significant insight you've learned about Capoeira from teaching Capoeira? There is something about ourselves that Capoeira reveals to ourselves and to those around us, but the most important element that Capoeira made me understand and learn is the ability to adapt to any situation and keep life going, keep the game going. The game never goes the way we want. We always need to adapt and improvise. We need to compromise in order to keep the game flowing. Interactions in life are about having the ability to improvise, adapt and compromise in order to keep a balance in society. Even for those who don?t have that skill ingrained in them selves, the game of Capoeira teaches them that adapting is surviving. What is Capoeira to you? Capoeira is life. Everything around me, my daily experiences in life, my interactions with people and situations are taking from the context of the game, the circle. Capoeira has philosophy, ethnicity, anthropology, sociology, psychology, spirituality, and common functional exercise science features. In general, for me, Capoeira completes me. It makes me happy, it excites me like life does. What's your favorite thing about Capoeira? The magnetism that Capoeira has with all of its many dimensional angles. That magic element that brings, or has the potential to bring, people together. The game is fascinating, the body dialog with abstract messages of, again, adaptation, compromising and creativity that brings the players to some imaginable high levels of physical and emotional states. If you could change anything about Capoeira, what would you change? I can?t change anything about Capoeira. Capoeira is beautiful. People?s perspectives about Capoeira are what need to be changed. Some people who are lucky enough to practice and teach Capoeira don?t know that they have a treasure in their hands. I always teach on my seminars that China has Tai-Chi, India has Yoga and Brazil has Capoeira. It is a treasure but people need to know how to treat and polish it.  Mestre Itabora in Bandung, Indonesia in 2008. What is the US Open Capoeira Tournament? It is a neutral event. There is so much division and lack of community building in many Capoeira circles that sometimes it makes difficult for everyone to get along. Groups have their own events and that: either nobody else is invited to be part of or some other groups don?t want to be part of it. Groups and their representatives have their own ways to conduct their business and I am in no position to criticize them. People have the right to do what they think is right for them. So the US OPEN is for everyone. It is not about group against group or style against style. It is not about representing their schools and fight for their flags. It is about the individual and how they want to improve their game and interact with other Capoeira players who think the same way. It is open venue for everyone to grow with each other, to exchange information and bring the game to another level. Everything evolves and we can?t stay behind. The game of Capoeira is always evolving. When was it started? It started in 2006 in Santa Cruz, CA. It was a great event. We had 15 groups participating and having fun from minute one. No fights, no ego. What is the motivation / idea behind it? What's its goal? This is a good question and this is what I put in the program for the event. I need to repeat what I wrote previously. There is too much focus sometimes on the ?me?, ?my?, personal history as the ultimate reference and I just decided to focus on the physical part of it, without colors, group affiliations and mestres ideologies and their own biased perspectives. ?IT IS ALL ABOUT THE GAME? pure and simple. When we are free from these stigmatizations, from the ?owners? of Capoeira, we can create incredible games and also learn that we don?t have to win all the time, or play under the pressure of making sure ?our/my? style is better. At the US OPEN nobody is playing under these conditions; nobody is playing to please their mestres. The idea is to create a good game. There is an individual score and a game score. We need to play together; we need each other to create a good and fun game. What advice would you give to first time participants? Keep an open mind for this format. At the end Capoeira is the winner. Jiu Jitsu is like that. People compete because they want to improve their game and the art form grows and gains the respect of society and its many institutions. We can do the same and much more with Capoeira because Capoeira is not a limited art form. Also work on your condition because it can be a tiring experience. If people want to learn more about the US Open Capoeira Tournament, where should they go? To www.usopencapoeira.com, to www.quizumba.org, and to www.rodamagazine.com Unless otherwise specified, all photography by Tiba Vieira::/wysiwyg_introtext:: ::wysiwyg_fulltext:: ::/wysiwyg_fulltext:: ::panel_article_details:: ::/panel_article_details:: ::panel_article_params:: ::/panel_article_params:: ::panel_article_meta:: ::/panel_article_meta:: ::jseblodend::::/jseblodend:: |
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Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be -- cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be -- cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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