"Capo-what?" I hear you say! You wouldn't be the first. The truth is the word Capoeira often receives many a blank stare from the listener. In the interest of sharing this beautiful, elegant and original art form with the world here is a little insight...
 
Capoeira began on Brazilian soil when slaves who had been brought from Africa combined their knowledge of different tribal dances, music traditions and fighting techniques. During their rare moments of leisure they began to absorb and combine each other's culture and a synthesis of movements, music and dances resulted.
 
So what exactly is it? The truth is Capoeira is difficult to define. The terms used such as dance or martial arts, just don't seem to fit. The truth is it is a mix. Players come together in a beautiful demonstration of ebb and flow, with each movement streaming into the next and forcing the opponent to think ahead or lose the flow. The key words here are creativity, improvisation, fantasy, beauty and imagination.
 
Many people believe that Capoeira was a form of rebellion for African slaves, and that it developed as a way for them to practice their fighting skills without their captors knowing they were training. But no one knows for sure. Now recognised as a national sport in Brazil the game and philosophy are spreading across the world. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to experience some of the magic of Capoeira here at Faust with our specialised workshop for ages 8 through to 11. Click here for more information.
 
For more information about Capoeira please contact Jessica McClellan at Jessica.McClellan@FaustWorld.com. 
 
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This month's newsletter is all about movement and so it seems a good idea to explore the work of Laban. Just as an actor can use his voice as a tool to portray character or emotion, he can also use his physical self in the same way. Many actors are frightened of moving on stage but an actor who is comfortable in their body and movements will be expressive and full of meaning. To help us understand how to create meaningful movements we can look to the work of Ruldolf Laban (1879 - 1958) a Hungarian-born German who developed a system for studying human motion. The research he conducted connects external movement to internal impulses. He identified eight "basic efforts" which use energy in time, speed, weight, strength and space direction. They are
1)    Press (direct, sustained and strong)
2)    Wring (indirect, sustained and strong)
3)    Glide (direct, sustained and light)
4)    Float (indirect, sustained and light)
5)    Thrust (direct, sudden and strong)
6)    Slash (indirect, sudden and strong)
7)    Dab (direct, sudden and light)
8)    Flick (indirect, sudden and light)
 
So next time you move, you might like to think of which of Laban's 8 principles of movement you are using!

If your child would like to spend some time focusing more on the movement side of their acting then they could join our specialised workshops on either Capoeira (ages 8 to 11) or dance (ages 4 to 7). Click here for more information.

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