The mestres, the groups and the "dynamic places" identity and relocation of capoeira practice in Paris and London

• Main Author: Granada da Silva Ferreira, Daniel
• Published: University of Essex 2014
• Subjects: 796.8
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.654557

This thesis analyses the process of transnationalisation of the practice of capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art form, in France and in the United Kingdom. The expansion of capoeira accompanied Brazilian emigration in search of better living and working conditions abroad, but also resulted from the adaptation and appropriation by local practitioners. Through ethnographic research among capoeira groups in France and in the UT<, in particular interviews with group leaders and their students, the thesis unveils the power relations that organise the market and the mechanisms employed by the capoeiristas to ensure their legitimacy against their competitors. The results show that capoeira groups became vectors of new forms of sociability, and the source of identities related to lifestyle claimed as "alternative" by its practitioners. These of new identities capoeira groups do not have as their main reference the working world or the state. In a context of intense circulation of individuals, capoeira groups in big cities like Paris and London are emerging as new location strategies; they are located in new "dynamic places," to which its members are perceived to be connected. The analysis reveals the mechanisms controlling the expansion of the practice, which is implemented by the capoeiristas themselves.