By Holly Klaft
Special to The State News
The dance began slowly — partners moved gracefully around each other — but it soon became combative as the performers avoided mock blows, each pseudo-strike inching closer to their partners' bodies.
"It is a lot more than what you see," said Jose Dantas, a 41-year-old Brazilian native who led the performance on Saturday at the International Center. "Capoeira has a deeper message in the community it came from."
Dantas' family has practiced it for many generations, and he has participated for 30 years because it was an important part of his community.
He now holds a class on Saturdays at IM Sports-East and brought the practice to MSU during World Music Night this weekend.
"I want people to understand the strong presence of Afro-Brazilian culture," Dantas said.
The dancers were performing the 500-year-old Brazilian practice, developed when Brazilian slaves disguised fighting techniques as dance so they wouldn't be persecuted for practicing them. Many practiced it in secret because Capoeira was banned until the 1930s.
Bringing the Capoeira together with other forms of music from around the world is part of an effort to bring different cultures in the MSU community together, said Jacob Boylan, multicultural director of the University Activities Board, or UAB.
Viewers were taken around the world with Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese songs, American Indian drums, Brazilian Capoeira and the tropical melodies of steel drums at the UAB event.
"People are so stuck in American mainstream music," Boylan said. "All this music is amazing, and people need to hear it."
Rhythmic beats resonated from a homemade buffalo-hide drum as five men sat around it and played traditional American Indian songs.
"Our music gives us a connection to our ancestors and tradition," said Don Lyons, a performer in the American Indian drum circle and a hospitality business senior. "It means a lot more than just a song."
Lyons, who also is the co-chairman of the North American Indigenous Student Organization, said there is a lack of education about indigenous people.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about Native Americans," Lyons said. "People should be educated on the social systems that were here long before Christopher Columbus got lost."
The event concluded with a two-hour set from the Gratitude Steel Band, made up of a family from West Bloomfield. They played melodies such as "Under the Sea," "I Can See Clearly Now" and "No Woman, No Cry," as well as more traditional West-Indian melodies.
The group invited the crowd in front of the stage to participate in the limbo, sing, dance and play games. Chaz and Loretta Russell taught participating attendees the Cha-Cha Slide. Audience members were invited to come on stage to sing and learn to play the steel drums.
"It doesn't matter what background you're from," said Boylan, who participated in the Gratitude Steel Band's dances and games. "Everyone can enjoy this."
