An interview with Mestre Sérgio Xocolate & Suzanne Roberts Smith: The rich culture and complex history and context of the art of Capoeira.
About Mestre Sérgio Xocolate:
Master Teacher of Traditional Capoeira, and lifelong arts educator Mestre Sérgio Xocolate has achieved the highest honour and achievement in Traditional Capoeira and is celebrating a forty-year practice.
The Martial Arts of Capoeira opened the door to Mestre Xocolate’s career as an award winning musician, singer/songwriter and percussionist. He is a strong advocate and ambassador for Indigenous and Afro Brazilian culture, on a mission to bridge the cultural and musical gaps, bringing the vibrant traditions and rhythms into the contemporary music scene.
Both his Capoeira practice and his music represent for him a cultural exchange, and an homage to Sérgio’s Afro and Indigenous heritage as a descendent of the XUKURÚ & PATAXÓ Nations in northeastern Pernambuco, Brazil.
Sérgio’s band XOCÔ recently launched a new album to international critical acclaim. You can learn more about his band and listen to his music HERE.
Prologue Performing Arts is proud to present Sérgio’s Capoeira workshops and performances in schools and communities across Ontario, which he hosts with his partner and fellow percussionist Suzanne Roberts Smith.
Q: What exactly is the art form of Capoeira? Can you describe it for us?
Sérgio: Capoeira is produced as a sport, as a martial art, but it’s complex. Capoeira is a philosophy first. It’s been commercialised, so people think it’s one thing, but it has such rich roots, many layers, and so it’s complicated and difficult to describe.
Suzanne: Traditional Capoeira is an Afro Brazilian martial art. Historically Capoeira has been misunderstood and misconceived and thus like a mask, used to the advantage of the practitioners.
Sérgio: Capoeira is a body philosophy; a physical philosophy connected to the ancestors, through music and rhythms. It’s governed by ancestral music. The key is musicality. The ancestors govern every circle (roda), every movement. Ancestral music is the conductor of the circle. Music is the maestro to the whole rhythm of the Capoeira gathering.
Q: When you say Capoeira is a philosophy, what exactly do you mean by that? Is it a philosophy as in a way of being? A way of joining a community?
Sérgio: The philosophy is evolutionary because it involves the entire society. Capoeira embraces you, regardless of your social class. It is a social philosophy first; a human philosophy. There is a radical aspect of inclusion, of accessibility, of unification in the circle.
In society, especially during colonial rule, people are separated and there are rules about who can do what. Within the Capoeira roda, within the circle, everyone is welcome and everyone can be on the same playing field.
And it is also a way of life and it is also a form of… community, you’re right.
Q: Where did capoeira come from? Can we have a little history lesson on how it all began?
Sérgio: It is of African origin. It is genuinely Brazilian, with its roots in African ancestry. It’s a legacy of the stolen Africans living in Brazil who designed Capoeira. There is no exact date when it began. It is a reflection of the history of Brazil during colonization. And the image of Capoeira is a reflection of the union, of the community, of a revolution.
Today it is no longer Brazilian, Capoeira has a worldwide presence.
Suzanne: Originally the enslavers thought it harmless because it was disguised as mere ‘playful dancing’ yet not only did it preserve critical, at risk cultural aspects, it also organized uprisings and created revolutions until it was outlawed altogether in 1890… then decriminalized in 1930 and legalized in 1940. By 1972, Capoeira was formally recognized as the official sport of Brazil.
Sérgio: The elements used in Capoeira are very important because they have African roots. The Berimbau [a traditional musical bow] in Africa is used in religious rituals, at street markets. And in Brazil it’s used in Capoeira. So it’s a symbol of Capoeira which represents mother Africa.
It was a way of preserving language and spirituality and culture and community and, latterly, having autonomy over a body and being able to protect your family and your community and create revolution in Brazil during colonial rule.
But what’s so interesting is that the tradition of Capoeira permeates throughout the world and has a huge impact on pop culture. We can hear Capoeira songs in commercials and not know it. And so this association that Capoeira is just a martial art, as in only ‘athletic’, is also a way of limiting the depth of understanding of its history and its heritage. Again, I think this is a very colonial framework of seeing it.
Q: How long have you been practicing capoeira?
Sérgio: This is a beautiful love story. I started Capoeira in 1982 when Capoeira wasn’t practised much and wasn’t very well regarded. Socially, Capoeira was part of a marginalized context, outside of society.
There was a period when Capoeira was banned and criminalized in Brazil. And to this day it has been a vehicle for the greatest expression of popular Brazilian culture, because you have to sing in Portuguese. The music is made using African instruments, which are Berimbau, Atabaque, and Pandeiro – the three fundamental instruments for the Capoeira roda (circle).
In Capoeira, there has to be a roda, a circle, and everyone clapping so that two practitioners can play. You have the instruments, the music, you sing in Portuguese, you sing in a group altogether and you’re supporting the focus on the two people who are in the centre. So, it’s like all of these aspects of Brazilian culture come together with Capoeira. So it’s like this beautiful, essential expression.
There are three fundamental instruments for the Capoeira roda; Berimbau (pictured on the right), Atabaque, and Pandeiro.
When I started practising Capoeira, I trained for almost a year without my mother knowing because of the discrimination and the prejudice that existed (and still exists).
In 1983, I had my first graduation and received my first belt. Then in 2009 I graduated as Mestre (Master level) from the Pernambuco Federation of Capoeira.
It’s a real love story, because Capoeira, it saved me. It brought me into a world where I had to exercise the role of teacher, of Mestre of Capoeira, with the responsibility of having students and publicly representing Brazilian culture. Everything that I do today has the hand of Capoeira supporting me. It’s 40 years of an eternal love relationship.
Q: What does it mean for you to be sharing your culture now with young people in Ontario?
Sérgio: The classes I lead in Canada are like my classes in Brazil. I’ve been teaching children for many years. So that’s my universe. But now, when I see that even though I speak in Portuguese, translated into English and French, people through Capoeira, through culture, manage to connect and engage.
The brilliant thing is the engagement of students, you know? When I see everyone learning these movements together, it’s an enormous, immeasurable, indescribable pleasure. I’ve spent 40 years dedicated to Brazilian popular and traditional culture and when I’m teaching, I feel at home and the students become my extended family. It’s beautiful.
And when I’m teaching, I forget that I’m in Canada. I go back into my culture and I’m at home. It feels like home. I’m at home with myself, at home with the students.
Suzanne: What’s it like working with students who are distinctly Canadian? Versus the joy of meeting Brazilian students in your classes? Can you talk a bit about these two experiences?
Sérgio: Firstly, Capoeira isn’t that well known in Canada. The Capoeira that I show at schools is wrapped up in various pieces that make up a scenario of Brazilian popular culture. So when we do this workshop, which is like a performance, the reception is immense.
The students… I have a very clear image – of the smiles, the shining eyes, you know? And that unique imprint that they’ll take home with them, into their lives. The lesson is one hour, but I’m going to immortalize an indescribable moment of Brazilian popular culture for each student.
Kate (interviewer): That really comes through in the wonderful feedback we’ve received from students and teachers.
In your program, when you explain different aspects of Capoeira and how important they are to your own culture, they see it. It encourages students to share aspects of their own cultures with their classmates. Everyone can share things that are important to them. When you showcase your culture, you provide this opportunity for them to celebrate and appreciate their own cultures and feel important as well. You celebrate your culture, and in turn let other people be proud to celebrate theirs.
Suzanne: You also talked about what it’s like to meet Brazilian students
Sérgio: Of course, it’s special when Brazilians come and recognise their culture. What is also really special for me are people who have some disability… who come and participate with me. That’s the most important thing for me.
Suzanne: Obviously he loves meeting the Brazilian community all over the world in these workshops. And it’s very special when that happens. But even more important… is when people with differences, some obvious, some not, but especially with different skills or different abilities, come forward and get involved in the work. That’s the most important part for Sérgio. Capoeira is mainly for the excluded. It comes from those who have been excluded from society. So it really is the power of coming together in a place where everyone is included and celebrated. There’s so much energy and life force in coming together.
Q: That kind of answers my last question, which is – what is something that you hope participants take from their experiences? That idea of community and unity is definitely something that I’m picking up, but maybe there’s something you want to add.
Sérgio: Honestly, I hope that the first thing students who come to this workshop will take home is joy. To leave their everyday lives and enter another world. It’s understanding that, through culture, we represent ourselves. That it is possible, through culture, to lead a better day.
Suzanne: And that’s really important, feeling an extra special happiness. And the message he hopes and wishes to impose is that through traditional culture, for example, his traditional culture, a better day is possible, a better feeling is possible. It is possible to feel happiness.
Sérgio: In our workshop, each piece has a very special meaning. Each part of our workshop represents a very particular story of Brazilian popular culture. It’s a living character that we are presenting with great respect to our ancestors, who gave us permission to go into schools today to talk about Brazilian popular culture.
So it’s a very special moment, not just for Capoeira, but for the whole community. It’s a celebration!
Prologue Programs for Schools and Communities
Prologue Performing Arts is proud to present Sérgio’s Capoeira workshops and performances in schools and communities across Ontario, which he hosts with his partner and fellow percussionist Suzanne Roberts Smith.
Traditional Capoeira & Percussion from Pernambuco, Brazil
In Mestre Sérgio’s authentic Capoeira programs, participants will experience rich traditional movements, music, percussion, instruments and call-and-response songs. Students will then have the opportunity to showcase their learnings of an original body percussion sequence via spotlights up on stage.
Participants will also experience important stories of Afro Indigenous cultural expression and preservation. The artists explain how this martial art was created by African Nations inside of Brazil as a key form of cultural resistance.
Sérgio performs songs in English and Portuguese, with words in YORÙBÁ (a west African language) and TUPÍ (an Indigenous language pre European contact and now almost extinct). Workshop partner, percussionista and storyteller Suzanne Roberts Smith provides audience engagement and workshop facilitation in English and/or French.
