The Body Sphere is a fascinating weekly program about “the ways we use our bodies to create and compete, nurture and abuse, display and conceal”, published by Australian broadcaster ABC. It recently featured an episode that split its time between taekwondo, one of two Olympic martial arts, and Brazil’s capoeira. While not directly contrasted in the episode, listeners will no doubt notice the juxtaposition of the two art forms as talk of capoeira’s rich cultural heritage…

With the 2016 Summer Olympics, the world’s focus on Rio de Janeiro has never been greater. The big media players are making sure they provide consumers with a relentless buffet of content surrounding not only the Olympics itself, but Brazil’s varied and colorful culture. Capoeiristas know the importance of capoeira in Brazil’s identity, but its presence in the media remains a novelty at best.

The international media surrounding the Olympics has not been shy about dipping into Rio de Janeiro’s favelas whenever they need to show a different side of Brazil; its controversial social and economic inequality is an easy target. However, the result is often short, inspirational stories highlighting how capoeira helps young people overcome the challenges of the favela (and constantly pointing out that it is not an Olympic sport, despite its cultural importance to the host country).

Celine Schmitt’s article for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Ahead of Rio 2016, capoeira brings a taste of Brazil to DRC:

“Before we had capoeira, we had problems. Capoeira brought peace, self-control and love,” says Diack, one of Gardinois’ students. “Now we live well together, we are relaxed and are able to control ourselves. We also live well with the host population. They also come to do capoeira with us in the evening. We walk them home and we talk.”

Mestre Doutor’s Project Capoeira and Brazilian Day Philadelphia will be putting on an exciting show tonight at alongside one of the world’s largest private art collections.