Investigating the Articulation of Ginga in Capoeira Angola

Abstract

From 1822 to 1825, the German painter Johann Moritz Rugendas (1808–58) embarked on a scientific expedition across Brazil. His voyage, carried out immediately after Brazil’s proclamation of independence from Portugal, resulted in the publication of one of the most comprehensive portrayals of nineteenth-century daily life of that former colony. Containing over 100 images, Rugendas’ ethnography houses the earliest known visual record of a capoeira game in Brazil. Briefly, the lithograph Playing Capoeira or the Dance of War (1835) depicts a lively gathering of black men and women watching a central wrestling match on the streets of Rio de Janeiro (Figure 4.1).¹