Capoeira Master Cláudio

Master Cláudio has been capoeira player on last 25 years. He is from Resende, a city close to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His work, ahead of Angola´s Berimbau Capoeira Association, involves today about 300 pupils, many of them poor children. For them, capoeira does not teach only a sport, or a dance. It teaches on the life.

Master Claudio was recently showing capoeira for children in Germany, on the community of Osthauderfehn, Ostfriezland. A common problem over there was to obtain a bigger integration between children, many of them immigrants. Over there, Brazilian art of the capoeira showed as it can be an instrument for the union of people, when the children had started to play together, forgetting differences on language and culture. " I´ve felt them smart, glad children. Child is child in any place." Having at his side some of its pupils, today also capoeira teachers, Master Claudio counts here a little on its life and its work.

BrKids - Master, what is the capoeira?

Capoeira is the life, it´s day-by-day. It is the friendship. You establish with people around you a friendship of brothers. One depends on the other, because capoeira is not played alone or against someone. To have a good capoeira playing, we have to have friendship, discipline and organization. But capoeira also is a dance that changes itself into fight, if necessary.

BrKids - Tell us a bit on your life...

I started in the capoeira when I was 24 years old. At the time, capoeira was badly-sight: if they knew that you was inside capoeira, you lost your job, was fired. There wasn´t capoeira school, people played in the street. In the start, what attracted myself was dance side.
My masters had been Master Branco, Carlão and one of the oldest masters, Canjiquinha, from Bahia. Canjiquinha teach me my preferred style, that is Little Sao Bento musical touch, a more slow rhythm for capoeira.

BrKids - When did you start to teach you capoeira?

Well, I made capoeira on last 25 years. I started to teach capoeira in 1974, on Barra Mansa, close to Resende. Later I started to teach in Resende, on 1986.
At same time, I worked on a great multinational company who was here, the Kodak. I´ve worked there many years, until the plant was transferred to another state and closed in Resende, in 1993. Suddenly, I was jobless. At the time I was 35 years old. On Brazil it is an age already complicated to find another job. On that time I´ve started to only dedicate myself to teach capoeira.
In the tradition of the capoeira, master also makes a work of orientation on people on his group and in the community. His knowledge and vision of life is transferred to them. Today I have almost 300 formed pupils and around 10 capoeira teachers. What I like to remember, on all these years are the children who I knew, those that were in risk situation and that now had obtained to become citizens, to work, to have family.

BrKids - How it was your visit to Germany?

In 1999, I was invited for a presentation in a school close here, School of Mauá, that was receiving the visit from a German group of professors. It was a very pretty presentation. Professor Harald Kleem, from Germany, attended and came to talk with me. From there he left the invitation to go to his country, to work a little with children over there.
So, I went...I arrived over France and Holland, alone... and without saying nothing of English. It was necessary to get airplane, bus, another airplane. Was not easy [smiling]... Here people uses to say much thing with their gestures, but abroad they do not use this very... was not easy to communicate myself.
But I obtained to arrive... I did not have no problem on Germany for being black. Only when I was in a ball, over there. Some people had been looking at me on a little aggressive way... and somebody said me that that people did not like foreigners. But as I already had appeared on the local periodical, I find, did not have no problem.
I was in four schools, where I´ve worked with one hundred children, of 6-13 years, 25 in each school. There had been 15 days. I´ve had an interpreter and assistant, Bel... I´ve found them glad, smart children. Child is child in any place.
In the end we had a small presentation. Althought it was with four children only, it was wonderful. In the rollback, here to Brazil, we made contact with Mutirum (social entity in Brazil, partner of some of Mr. Harald projects on Brazil), and now we´ll go to develop many things together.

BrKids - What do you think that capoeira means?

In Brazil, capoeira was something that matched a people. A people who came here as enslaved, speaking different languages, but that has worked and has constructed together a nation, changing from enemies to friends. I expect that some day capoeira will have this contribution in the world, to serve as na instrument of peace between people.

BrKids - Which are your designs for future?

Our designs now are to develop our work here in the region, in the region of the Mantiqueira, improving the accompaniment of many groups that are in little poor villages on the region... We want to take care of more children, in Itatiaia, Resende, Mirantão, Maringá, Mauá... We also want to legalize the Angola´s Berimbau Capoeira Association, our group that already exists since 1988.
I would like to thanks to professors, and community that has received me in Germany. We will be over there again in August, to work the capoeira with the handicapped children and their professors too. Until there!