Capoeira Kicks Up The Green

Rhythm and sound from Brazil woke up the Green midday Friday as people kicked and flipped at the intersection of Chapel and Church streets.

It might have been easy to mistake the men and women in white delivering those swift high kicks over each other’s heads and deftly avoiding a foot to the head with the grace of a ballet dancer for being engaged in some sort of fight. Except they never stopped smiling at each other.

That is the magic of capoeira.

Led by Mestres Efraim Silva (pictured in the second photo above), the capoeiristas were demonstrating a practice rooted in Afro-Brazilian culture that grew out of that country’s slave trade and today is known around the world for its mix of music, martial arts, dance, and acrobatics. (Read more about the history of capoeira here.)

The capoeiristas were doing their thing on the Green Friday thanks to an ongoing pop-up series sponsored by the New Haven Green proprietors, New Haven Parks & Recreation and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

Proprietor Kica Matos (pictured) said the pop-up series is designed to ​“wake up the Green” and let people know that it is a place where the diversity of cultures, art and music can be celebrated.

“The art and music have all been chosen intentionally so that people can see themselves,” she said.

Though capoeira has its roots in Afro-Brazilian culture, everybody got a chance Friday to get in on the good times. Including this father and daughter duo trying out a few kicks.

Silva, 55, has been a capoeira teacher since he was 17 growing up in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the executive director of the Connecticut Capoeira & Dance Center and the founder of his own capoeira group, Raca em Movimento. He said capoeira is for everyone, noting that the practice celebrates the deep joy in the culture, despite hard times. He also noted that he was the only Brazilian among the capoeiristas on the Green Friday.

“Everyone can enjoy this amazing energy,” he said. Well not everyone. When a man in a motorized scooter was about to ride by, Silva invited him to participate but he declined.

“I just had hip replacement surgery,” he said.

Nevertheless, audience participation was definitely on the menu with Silva getting bystanders in on the action. They clacked the sticks Silva and his students handed out to them at the appropriate time and joined in with the rhythm that Silva was beating out on the drum. They shimmied their hips and turned on cue. For just a few minutes, they became capoeiristas.

Matos said that the Green pop-up series has featured drumming, tap dancing, jazz, and tai chi. There’s also going to be an opportunity to learn how to krump and participate in a flash mob.

And if you want to catch some more capoeira, Silva and crew will have an event at 315 Peck St. at 5 p.m. But before that they were planning on grabbing some lunch at the only Brazilian restaurant close to the Green, Toro, which is formerly known as Taste of Brazil. The owners (pictured above) said they heard the drums and came over to see what was going on and found a little piece of home.

Check out the moves in the videos below.