Week 4 – Afro Dance Awesomeness with Capoeira Nago

Capoeira Aruanda’s Melodia shares her thoughts on the Afro Dance Workshop held as part of the Roda De Rua Series in November 2009!

Turning up on time to an Afro dance work shop should be high on any list of priorities; I learnt this the hard way last Sunday as I ambled into Daceyville PCYC, thinking that a 10 minute late stamp should be ok to just slip into the workshop and ‘do whatever’.
Wrong.

Afrodance has slipped into popular culture by the booty shaking antics of Beyonce, it was in this workshop that Marina showed us that booty shakin’ was the least of our worries, what I saw when I wandered into that hall was the collective effort of a group of Capoeiristas being lead through dance steps that needed more co ordination than anything I’ve done in everyday life. Those ten minutes had cost me the first six steps of the routine – and also gave me the realisation that both arms and legs needed to co operate in a way that would make me look both graceful and potentially awesome all at the same time.

But total awesomeness was what we eventually all achieved!Marina broke down each step so that minimal confusion ensued and that butts worked together with out- stretched arms and legs shot forward in a non- Bencao like way. This was all performed in time with Thiago’s drumming on the Atabaque. We learnt to pump our chests, shimmy our shoulders, dance diagonally down and through the hall and well… booty shake our way to Beyonce -like glory all the way to the end.

Not only were we taught the steps to an Afro dance routine, but also the meaning behind why each movement looked the way it did and gave as a small insight into African culture and religion. Roda De Rua Series 4 is turning out to be educational boys and girls! Yeah that’s right, I said it.

On another note, our weekly sun drenched roda down at Coogee has grown in reputation – there are Capoeiristas who are travelling through Sydney stopping by to play the afternoon away with us, on lookers are singing “Paranue” ( this is a personal observation after standing in front of three way too tanned dudes shouting the words in my ears every time the song came up) and more groups joining the fun – with or without good intent.

Thank you to Marina and Thiago, who lead the workshop and also the roda down at Coogee this week in  absence of Borracha, it’s always a brilliant time with those guys around! Salve Capoeira!