“Most martial artists think capoeira is just a dance,” said Efraim Silva, “but it is really a very powerful hidden martial art.”
Silva, a master Capoeirista and owner of Connecticut Capoeira and Dance at 1175 State St., has been practicing since he was a child growing up in Brazil. Silva laughs often, is undeniably affable, confident.
Capoeira — part art form, part martial art — has been at the center of his life here in Connecticut for the past 27 years, since he first came to visit his sister in Bridgeport and “never left.”
“The easiest way to explain Capoeira is that it was created in the 16th century by the Africans as a martial art they could use to protect themselves and escape from slavery,” said Silva. “And because they were not allowed to practice martial arts, they used music to disguise the fights in some kind of native dance.”
When Silva first began to study capoeira as a boy in Brazil, it was considered something that “bad people” did. Even his mother did not want him to train; she was concerned that his teacher practiced the Candomblé religion, a Brazilian religion derived from a blend of several West African religions. But Silva, among the youngest of 13 children, wanted to be able to defend himself from his older brothers and schoolyard bullies.
Now capoeira has become a beloved national practice. “Outside of Brazil, in most of the countries that capoeira was taken to,” Silva explained, “people loved it and respected the art form. And coming back to Brazil, now they had choice but accepting that this is a Brazilian national art form.”
Lucy Gellman Photo
Silva on WNHH radio’s “At The Moment.”
Silva’s Brazilian capoeira career was intense. Through his youth and service in the Brazilian Air Force, he was in a blur of competitions. When Silva decided to move to America permanently, bringing capoeira to America became his main goal. For 17 years, he struggled, teaching this unknown martial in fitness centers and small studios. “I wanted people to know what the power of capoeira is not only as a martial art but as a community.” He gained traction slowly, finding footholds at Yale, where he has taught for fifteen years, and finally in his permanent studio in New Haven, Connecticut Capoeira and Dance Center.
Capoeira has its own language, rules, and cultures. Roda: the circle “where everything happens in capoeira.” Berimbau: its most important instrument. (Silva wears a necklace with a berimbau pendant, and has a tattoo of the bow-like instrument on his right bicep.) Bachizado, which literally means baptism: introducing a new student to capoeira. Ginga: the fundamental footwork. The act of playing the game (“jogo”) of capoeira. (It’s called a game, Silva explained, because “ we are not fighting, we are not pulling against each other, we are playing with each other.”) At its center, music. “The music is the heart and soul of capoeira,” Silva said. “It is a must that every student learn all the aspects of the art form. They have to learn to play all the percussion instruments … Every song of capoeira tells a story.”
“People that start capoeira, they fall in love with the community of it,” he said, describing his center. “You know, it’s Brazil inside of 2,000 feet.
“I think I am more Brazilian today than I have ever been when I was in Brazil. … Coming to America, people are not so willing to do things without details. So I had to learn everything about capoeira, about the Brazilian history, many things about my culture, in America, in order to be able bring it to the schools. Because one of the things I do in the schools in integrating arts into the curriculum. … So I became more Brazilian because of that. All the things that I took for granted in Brazil for 25 years, I had to go back learn.”
Silva said he’s accomplished his goal. “As the saying goes, if you love what you do, you don’t work one day in your life. My brothers and sisters are always saying that. If you ask them, ‘Where is Efraim?’ the will say, ‘Oh he is in Canada.’ ‘What is he doing? He’s working?’ ‘Oh, he doesn’t work, he only does capoeira. I love that.”
Click on or download the above sound file to listen to the full interview with Silva, which took place on WNHH radio’s “At The Moment” program. Silva also offered WNHH listeners a special deal on classes in his studio; you’ll have to listen to the interview to hear the details.
This interview is part of WNHH-LP’s “Open For Business” series on immigrant business owners and leaders in the nonprofit community. “Open for Business is sponsored by Frontier Communications. Frontier is proud to be Connecticut’s hometown provider of TV and internet for your home and business. Their phone number is 1.888.Frontier and their website is Frontier.com.
Efraim is one of those guys who makes the world a better place by just doing what he loves: playing Capoeira and teaching other people how to play. He's one of New Haven's secret superheroes, in my book.