Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance,acrobatics, and music. It was practiced by enslaved Africans in Brazil at the beginning of the 16th century. It is known for its acrobatic and complex maneuvers, often involving hands on the ground and inverted kicks. It emphasizes flowing movements rather than fixed stances; the ginga, a rocking step, is usually the focal point of the technique. The most widely accepted origin of the word capoeira comes from the Tupi words referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior where fugitive slaves would hide. A practitioner of the art is called a capoeirista.

The dance and music was incorporated in the system to disguise the fact that they were practicing fighting techniques. After the abolition of slavery in Brazil, capoeira was declared illegal at the end of the 19th century. However, by the 1920s, authorities began to relax enforcement on its prohibition, and martial artists began to incorporate capoeira technique into their practices. By the 1970s, capoeira masters started traveling around the world, helping the art become internationally recognized and practiced. On 26 November 2014, capoeira was granted a special protected status as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Each Capoeira workshop consists of:

10-15 min warm up and stretches (with games sometimes)

Defense Movements

Kicks (no contact)

Capoeira Acrobatics

Combination of movements

Sequence creation

Dance

RODA (when 2 people perform together the movements to live Capoeira music)

Music

Students will have the opportunity to learn about the music, dance,  history and language (Brazilian Portuguese) of Capoeira whilst improving fitness and agility. Capoeira provides a platform for personal achievement, improving self-esteem and creativity.

Introducing Capoeira to your school’s physical education plan allows the introduction of cultural variety and exciting diversity. 

Half-day workshops run from 9am-12pm, with full-day workshops running from 9am-3pm with a break for lunch. We recommend that the workshops are broken down into sessions lasting approx. 40 mins to 1 hour (to best suit your school timetable) with one class participating per session.

All workshop activities can be held inside or outside in good weather and comply with all current covid guidelines. If you’d like any further details, please get in touch and I’d be happy to provide more information.

The Brazilian Samba Dance workshop combines Brazilian samba, Latin dance and Caribbean carnival dance. The students will learn some basic movements and rhythms whilst enjoying the happy, carnival atmosphere. The artist gets everyone involved, adjusting the level of the workshop to suit the age and abilities of each group. The artist can also finish the workshop with a fun carnival parade.

The workshops are designed to be broken down into sessions, with one class (or up to approx. 30 students) participating per session.

The workshop can be run inside or outside, as long as it’s not raining. Students and staff are encouraged to wear bright colours, perhaps don masks and necklaces too, and enjoy the celebrations!

Beatboxing students will learn how to make different sounds with their mouths, and hands as well. Beatboxing workshop helps develop rhythm, introducing them to new ways of making sounds and music, individually and in teams. Our artist is an expert in the art, having won the UK beatboxing championship a few times. 

Our graffiti workshops can be run outside or indoors. Students can create their own work of art to display in school or take home. If requested in advance, we can also help students paint a graffiti wall within the school grounds. We provide the spray paints and the pupils can use their own masks, we only ask the school to provide newspapers to cover the floor and A3 and A4 papers for the students to practice. We can also run our workshops to tie in with specific topics or themes your students might be studying – e.g. the rainforest, the environment etc. For this workshopswe require a deposit or full payment from the school beforehand, to buy the spray cans.

Bollywood dance is a fusion of various dance styles. It includes Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Bhangra, Jazz, Hip-hop, Arabic, Western dance to name a few. Classical Indian dance incorporates the two basic elements of dance and expression.

We start with a brief introduction to history of steel pans, where it's from and how they are made, before demonstrating the different styles of music that they can play. They then break up into groups to let the students have a go for themselves. 

​

The session consists of playing techniques, working as an ensemble and having fun.