The Capoeira Dance – Brazil’s UNESCO protected Dance

There are many dance styles that are popular today that have their origins in South America – the Samba and the Salsa are popular not just in Brazil, but all around the world and places like RV Dance salsa classes London are full of newcomers wanting to learn these dances.

One dance that you may not be so familiar with that also hails from South America is the Capoeira dance. Originating in Brazil, like the Salsa, this style of dance started with the Portuguese slave trade. At a time when huge numbers of slaves were being taken from African and brought to Brazil as slaves by the Portuguese, this was a dance that signified freedom.

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Many of the slaves were able to escape their captors and set up their own remote villages in the forests of Brazil. This dance formed around this time, as a fusion of dance as well as a martial art skill. Learning to fight and defend oneself was important for these people who needed to fight for their survival, and so the popularity of the Capoeira dance increased over the centuries.

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Although throughout these tumultuous centuries some authorities tried to stamp out the existence of this dance, it endured and is now not only an officially recognised dance which is popular in Brazil and is also gaining popularity in the Caribbean and United States but is also protected by UNESCO world heritage status.