CAPOEIRA CHOREOGRAPHY

Creating a Capoeira show is only limited by your imagination. Regardless your limitations, there is always a way of being able to do something that will make an impact.

So many people worry about getting the best tricks, or focusing on showing ‘something that has never been done before’. From my experience, it is not what you can do, it is in how you present it.

THINK OUTSIDE THE SQUARE
Do some research. Don’t necessarily look soley at Capoeira performances, try and watch dance performances and study the formations. Look at the ways they use their bodies to create a certain effect.

THE DETAILS
It is really all in the details. Don’t settle for near enough is good enough. Fix something that is not working straight away. Every arm movement, every facial expression, every position will make a difference on the overall impression of the show.

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
What kind of lighting is there at the performance place? Does the music sync completely with the performance? If you are doing live music, will you use mics? Can you create breaks and changes in the music to give a better flow to the performance?
Are you sure you are meeting your clients exact wishes? Are you keeping integrity in the art? Where did you place the highlights and ‘wow’ factors in the show? Will the audience be able to understand what you are expressing?

Many Capoeira Performances are just rodas. There is nothing wrong with that, but, there are always things that you can do to spruce up the roda to make it more audience friendly. Think about involving the audience in the story you are creating. Try and think about the best things you get out of capoeira and find ways of being able to express this to the audience.

Good luck with your creations! If anyone needs help with a performance or is interested in hiring us for a performance don’t hesitate in contacting me.
chan@soulcapoeira.org

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This combination is a moderate to high level of difficulty, purely because of the helicoptor movement in the middle.
However, if you can already do the helicoptor movement with relative ease, the rest should be easy!

I have broken the combination down into the three movements to make it easier to grasp.

Movement 1.
Queixada-Dobrado (a name I just made up then).

Go into the movement as if you were about to kick the queixada. twist the hip, but dont lift the queixada kicking leg just yet.
Sink the weight through the bum and reach with the arm (the arm that is closest to your queixada kicking side). Turn the hip over as you lean and kick through with the opposite leg. (not the queixada kicking leg).
Land like an S-dobrado. It is essentially an S-dobrado from a queixada position. Try and practice landing with the body high, and keeping the second leg that comes around, off the floor at the end of the movement. (will make it easier for you to join it in the combination later on).

Movement 2.
Helicoptor
For the ease of explanation, i am going to refer to the way it is done in this video.
The helicoptor is a movement that I found extremely difficult to learn by myself. Thus I would recommend finding someone who can do it to help you.
Begin by doing an Au then the leg that you would normally land on, in this case, the left leg, will sweep through, low to the ground. The right leg is open, and follows the left.

keep both hands on the floor as long as possible. The movement has three stages, the descent and isolation of the hands going down, the hands staying fixed on the ground and the turning of the legs, and then the third stage is when the Right foot lands on the ground, the legs stay almost neutral whilst the body unwinds itself.

in this third stage, you must push off hard from the ground with the arms, and keep the right leg hard. You must not bend in the hip or you will not be able to push up and out of the movement.

movement 3
backwards walkover, one handed switch

this movement you can begin practicing as if you were practicing an Au. Try and begin facing side on. You could also just practice doing it like a backwards walkover, (if you can do them already), but land on the opposite leg you normally would. You dont need to do it on just one arm, but it does look a little cooler if you do.

tips
Try and do each of the movements individually first, before putting them into the combination.
keep the body rolling, let the motion guide you. Slow it down, no need to rush through it, this will help with the balance.
If you cant do the whole sequence but only parts of it, that is great! use some of those movements to create your own unique combinations!

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CAPOEIRA COMBINATION 1

This combination of reasonable difficulty and would require some level of prior capoeira movement ability to achieve, as you will see below:

TIPS:

TIP 1.
When you are doing the Armada into Queda de Rins, to make it look more beautiful do not touch the ground with the kicking foot. Sweep it all the way through.

When first learning this movement, put your arms on the ground first and then hop and switch the legs as you sink into the queda de rins.

When you go into the switch queda de rins, think of the legs keeping open both laterally and vertically. This will create a windmill effect and make the movement look more aesthetically pleasing.

When you have built yourself up more, you will be able to do a bigger hop, jumping into the queda de rins from the armada.

TIP 2.
From the switch queda de rins position, you will require some arm strength to keep this next part smooth.
Push up with the arms and land the leg that was on top in the queda de rins, first.

Twist the body as you land the second leg landing in almost a ginga type lunge position. Dont rush this part and break it down so that you feel balanced. you can always speed it up later.

TIP 3.
This Au (cartwheel) is quite difficult and will take some getting used to. You are basically taking off from the foot that you would not normally take off from when doing a normal Au. So you swing the back leg first and hop off the front leg.

You land on the leg you hop off.

With the other leg you swing it through so that you can get your body in position ready to do your ponte (back arch).

If you would like you can also do an Au Esquisito instead to add to the aesthetics of the movement (an Au esquisito is like doing a backbend or arching the back and legs in the middle of the Au).

TIP 4.
Almost there! When threading through that second leg really reach with it. This will help you not travel as much in the sequence. instead of doing a full backbend, try and use the first arm for a support and the second arm goes straight into the queda position. You can choose to hop off the furthest leg from your queda arm or just hop off both legs and balance yourself whilst rotating.

Another useful tip is the arm you do not have as much weight on, use it to push yourself around. Land the leg that is closest to the queda hand first and sweep the other leg.

Try and make sure you do not get disorientated within the combination. It is very easy to lose the structure and end up facing all different kinds of ways. So break each step down and be patient. If your wrists/back/body starts to ache, stop doing the movements and do some cool downs. you can always conquer it tomorrow!

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hey everyone,
Just thought I would post my demonstration video.
It is just a compilation of things I have been working on for the past couple of years. I have been training lots of other styles of martial arts which has been hugely beneficial for my movement capabilities and ideology.
However, Capoeira has and always will be my base.

I am really sorry I havent been posting any articles of late. I had my computer stolen whilst I was in LA and am finding it hard to access a computer.
But, there will be more articles, so hold on, they will come!
Lots of Axe!
chan.

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