Speak to anyone who has ever been a part of a Capoeira 'roda' and you’ll see their eyes light up at the mention of this powerful Brazilian (and sometimes spiritual) Martial Art... 

You don't need to be particularly fit, flexible or have any background in martial arts or dance to learn capoeira. All that you need for capoeira, capoeira will teach you. You don't even have to be a typically 'sporty' kind of person, as Capoeira really isn't much like the average sport.

►SUMMARY FACTFILE
Start Dates	All year round - you choose your start and finish dates!
Duration	Minimum stay 1 week and up to 1 year, subject to visa requirements
Requirements	No qualifications needed.
Price	From £695 / US$1,045 for 1 week, ranging to £1,995 / US$2,995 for 8 weeks. Full Price List and other Currencies
What's included	►Accommodation ►Breakfast  ►Meeting you at the Airport ►Transfer to your accommodation ►Transport to and from your project ►Course Fees & Materials ►Full pre-departure support ►Local in-country team support and backup ►24-hr emergency support.
What's not included	Flights, Insurance, Cost of Visas (if a visa is required, but we'll provide necessary documents and assistance), Lunch and Dinner, Return transfer to airport.
Who can do this Project?	All our projects are open to all nationalities. Unless otherwise stated, you need to be aged between 17 and 70+

Also on this page:

• Your Capoeira School, The Course & Placement Avaliability

• A Personal Capoeira Experience

• Accommodation - Rio De Janeiro

• Travel, Visas, and Support & Backup

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Capoeira is not only a martial art, a dance and an art form steeped in Afro-Brazilian culture... Capoeira is a language, a form of self expression and an avenue which will help you to find a new freedom inside yourself. It’s also the perfect way to get to grips with a deep understanding of Brazilian culture. If you enjoyed running about as a child, flipping upside down, jumping around and playing games with your friends, you will love Capoeira. The basic moves are simple and with a little practice they are easy to learn.  

Born of oppression and slavery in Brazil, the unique style of Capoeira brings beauty and power together, developing mental balance, physical conditioning, self-defence, music and a profound sense of art. The music dictates the way the game or jogo (jo-go) will be conducted.

Capoeira is a discipline that requires great flexibility, strength, rhythm and physical control based upon the principles of spontaneity, energy, interaction and trickery. Yet Capoeira is also about freedom, the freedom to move, to interact, to communicate and to be, without limitations.

Capoeira teaches you about yourself and about life from its own unique perspective. Capoeira is extremely social and you will meet many interesting people through this art.

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS COURSE:

• An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into Latin America.
• New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.
• An entry on your CV/resume that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market
• The enormous satisfaction of learning or improving your Portuguese language skills.
• And best of all ... an unforgettable experience!

"Capoeira is a completely unique Brazilian art-form. The two players try and outsmart each other, avoiding incoming kicks and transforming their defenses to attack from different angles. The spectators stand around the players playing the music that dictates the style and pace of the game, all the while singing songs that recall Capoeira's past history and culture. Capoeira has evolved over hundreds of years, assimilating elements of modern martial arts whilst retaining its cultural heritage and influences to produce a dazzling show of skill and interaction."
Amazonas Brighton

Your Capoeira School
You will be enrolled to study Capoeira with ‘Associacao Centro de Capoeira Angola do Rio de Janeiro – ACCARJ’, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The ACCARJ is located in the ‘Catete’ area of Rio de Janeiro, within a 5 minute-walking distance away from your accommodation, and the space is open to any beginner in Capoeira, or true ‘angoleiro’ that wishes to participate, furthering the work of Capoeira Angola. Its purpose, then, is to make the space available, as well as unite and receive ‘angoleiros’ from Brazil and abroad, promoting and spreading Capoeira Angola. This work is currently being done by the group’s members through classes, presentations, events, and workshops. The groups that participate in the Association of C.C.A.R.J. are authentic representatives of Capoeira Angola. They come from the same root, planted by ‘Mestre Pastinha’ through the work of ‘Mestre Moraes’.

Each group is represented by its Master or Countermaster, maintaining autonomy in relation to other groups.

The Course
The ‘ACCARJ’ teaches the art of Capoeira everyday, from Mondays to Fridays, and your course will be a based on a 6 hour/week, with the time split down into three sets of two-hour lessons. The teaching style is focused, but informal, and revolves around the old adage that practice makes prefect. Lessons will be held by ’Mestre Mano’, or one of their highly experienced assistant teachers. The lessons are held in their big gymnasium in ‘Catete‘ although sometimes, depending on how long you’ll be training for, you might move out to a ‘Roda’ (performance) in a different part of Rio.

In addition, you will get a free t-shirt upon your arrival, so that you can feel yourself as a true ‘angoleiro’.

Placement Availability
Much of life in Brazil revolves around the summer and the Capoeira centres & schools are no different. You never need to give a Brazilian an excuse to kick back and enjoy life and the school based in Rio follow suit with the centres schedules circling around the national calendar; taking time out for a two week break in the middle of the month of July and then another extended break from the middle of December through until after the carnival has finished, which is normally by late February.

Beginner? – YES YOU CAN!
Capoeira is good for everyone. The first time you experience capoeira (probably as an open mouthed passer-by on a sunny afternoon somewhere), it seizes you. Its intoxicating energy, skill and beauty captures your attention and stays in your imagination until the next time. It also strikes as intimidating and something that you yourself could never do. This is not true! If you liked running about as a child, going upside down, jumping around and playing games with your friends, you will love capoeira. The basic moves are simple and with a little practise they are easy to learn.

You don't need to be particularly fit, flexible or have any background in martial arts or dance to learn capoeira. All that you need for capoeira, capoeira will teach you. You don't even have to be a typically 'sporty' kind of person, as capoeira really isn't much like the average sport. All that you need right now is intrigue and that small voice inside you quietly saying to you... I could do that

Let capoeira change your life. Let it happen in the sunny hedonism of a country beating with the sacred rhythm of the berimbau. Allow the freedom in!

If you have any doubts about whether Capoeira would be for you, please don't hesitate to chat to us. Fabio, our Project Co-Ordinator is a Capoeira instructor himself and would be happy to chat to you about the sport, what's involved, or whether it'd be suitable for you. We're a slightly based team when it comes to Capoeira, and all pretty keen to get you booked onto this project so that you can experience this magical world for yourself!

Additional Activities you can do while on this Project:
Add to your travel experience in Brazil by doing some additional exciting activities - you never know, you could develop a passion for Latin American dance, or learn a new skill!

• Brazilian Music courses: Choose from a variety of local percussion/styles

• Portuguese Language Courses: Immerse yourself in the language and you'll be amazed at the effects it brings!

• Yoga Courses

• Photography courses

• Latin Dance Lessons

• Watersports, Treks and Adventure Activities

 
Got any questions? Please email us:
info@travellersworldwide.com

Enhance your Programme with some exciting activities:

What is Capoeira? Click here to find out
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Got any questions? Please email us:
info@travellersworldwide.com

Yep, this is me!

A Beginners Tale: I properly discovered Capoeira 6 months ago, after first seeing a display of it at a festival in outback Australia. From the first time I saw it, I was fascinated with this unique martial art and was compelled to learn more. The moves were extremely impressive, the players so strong, fit and flexible and the music and energy it created, completely captivating.

The players were in a circle, 4 or 5 of them were playing unusual instruments, drums or tambourines and every one was singing passionately in a language I didn’t understand. The rest of the players would take turns in cart-wheeling into the circle in pairs, to play one another, turning and spinning, kicking and ducking and moving in circular flow with one another, occasionally surprising the other with a clever or cheeky move. I later found out that this is the roda (pronounced hoda) and this is where all Capoeirista’s practise and enjoy their art.

The games were non contact and unlike other martial arts, it wasn’t just about defence and attack moves, it was also a beautiful and primal dance. There was a sense of the ancient African tribal alongside the enticing Brazilian samba.  All the players had their own distinctive style of movement and some of them looked nothing short of superhero in the complete control and natural ease they had of their bodies.

I didn’t really understand what Capoeira was about then, or even how to pronounce it! I couldn’t imagine that I would ever be able to do the things I saw the players doing, or would even have the confidence, as I’d only ever danced – and not often in the middle of a circle – when drunk! I couldn’t imagine learning the instruments or singing songs in Portuguese. However, the intrigue of Capoeira stayed with me, as I am sure it does with everyone who witnesses it, and my next opportunity into the world of Capoeira came two years later when I saw an advert for Amazona’s Brighton and began to train.

I used to be sporty when I was younger and always loved the buzz of the endorphin release when you exercise, but I had forgotten how good it felt to be fit, healthy and in control of your life. Capoeira is certainly a challenge but I can now do things that I never dreamt I would be able to do. I can walk on my hands and I can throw high spinning kicks without falling over! I can dance freely (without the tequila) and I can sing songs in Portuguese. I can play the drum and am learning the sacred birembau instrument. There is still so much I can’t do, but I know that with training, time and enthusiasm, one day I will be able to. It’s not difficult to keep training because it’s so much fun. Like when you were play fighting or running and jumping around for the pure joy of it, as kids.

More than anything else, the sense of achievement is in the transition from watching in awe on the side lines, to being in the circle. It’s a comparison you can make with life also.

Capoeira keeps people young and there is no age limit. A good friend of mine from the class was 37 when she started, after a big life change and a divorce. Today she is one of the best in the class, looks 27 and has found the strength and happiness from Capoeira to transform her life into the one she wanted. Others start at 17 and by 27 they will be invincible! The people involved in this sport are friendly and welcoming and from many different backgrounds. Capoeira is no longer an elite game, but a philosophy of life that should be shared with all ages, races and genders.

I have been training for 6 months now, twice a week and whenever the sun is shining and there is a park or beach to play on. I know that it has changed my life. My confidence, my ability to deal with stress, my energy levels, my social life and my strength in body and in peace of mind have all increased greatly. My teacher Boneco is from Brazil and to go to Brazil to learn and play Capoeira intensively would be an incredible experience that will have lasting positive effects on any ones life. Anyone reading this who knows Capoeira needs no explanation. Capoeira is Capoeira.

For those of you who are like I was, still in the stages of intrigue, trust me, you can be a singing, dancing, superhero also, and Capoeira is just waiting for you – on a beach, in the place where it all began, Brazil. Step off those sidelines and into the circle…

Pictures courtesy of Amazonas Brighton

Accommodation is situated in the Flamengo region of Rio - just a hop, skip and a jump away from famous Copacabana beach! This is a great place to be as you will be only 3 minutes away from the metro station, opposite the Catete Palace and you will be able to visit Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue with great ease.

You will be staying in a dorm room in a brand new hostel which has been set up by an artist with a wish to create a hostel that is different to anything else in Rio. Set in a beautiful redeveloped building from the end of the 19th century, you will be surrounded by wonderful Brazilian art, dipping you straight into the culture from the first minute you arrive! With over 110 beds, some decorated with an “art” theme you will be sure to meet like-minded travellers, other volunteers and artists from all over the world! The hostel currently has internet and WiFi, a common area, TV room, library, book exchange, safes, a terrace area for socializing, and a housekeeping service. It also has a bike rental service. They often have popular music from Brazil with live music on occasion and a fantastically vibrant, friendly atmosphere.

If you'd like to upgrade to a double or single room, just let us know at time of booking and we can arrange it for you. There will be a small supplement for the upgrade. All rooms have their own bathroom and individual cupboard with a key for security.

Eating out is one of the highlights of living in South America, and an essential part of Brazilian culture! Because of this, the price of your placement includes your breakfast but not lunch or dinner, thus giving you the freedom to sample some of the fabulous food which Rio is famous for. Breakfast currently includes fruits and juices (try the acai – a delicious berry to sprinkle on your granola cereal), coffee, milk, bread, cheese, ham, butter, jams and sweet cakes (popular in Brazil for breakfast) amongst other things. You'll be allowed to use the kitchen facilities whenever it is not being used by the hotel staff.

The Brazilians have a passion for food. They spend long, balmy evenings dining in restaurants and al fresco in the city’s buzzing streets on fare from the traditional Feijoada (black beans and pork stew) or Mariscada (seafood stew) to modern global cuisine rivalling that of any other international city! You might also like to indulge in a caipiranha, Brazil’s traditional carnival drink made with lime and cachaça, best enjoyed in the sunshine with a churrasco, which is a Brazilian barbeque of rice, meats and – of course – salsa! The cost of eating out in Rio can vary from a just a couple of pounds up to a couple of hundred pounds! This is one city where you certainly won’t have any trouble eating well on a tight budget - there are some very inexpensive options available and you'll dine out handsomely on about £4 ($6) (estimate correct at time of writing); although you could be lucky and get away with spending even less and still be eating well. The trick is to keep your eyes peeled for the bargain eateries offering specials such as buffet lunches. Also don’t forget the supermarkets are a good option and are comparable in standard to those found back home.

Area: The hostel is located only a 15 minute-walking distance away from the Arches of ‘Lapa’, ‘Cinelandia’ and ‘Flamengo’, from where you can visit Sugar Loaf Mountains (Pao de Acucar) and the Statue of Christ, the Redeemer; only 3 minutes away from ‘Catete’ Underground station, where you can catch the train and get to ‘Copacabana’ or ‘Ipanema’ beach in less than 15 minutes. There are several banks, ATMs, supermarkets, drugstores, cinema, hotels, shops, etc., all within a couple of minutes away, which makes the area interesting and busy even in the night time! The options for entertainment are endless too; one night you can choose to watch a film at the cinema; the other you can just chill out with friends in a local bar or pub.

TRAVEL:
To read about Travel arrangements and what happens when you arrive in your new country, please click here.

As there is so much to do in Brazil, we recommend that you do some travelling around the country once your placement has finished. If this is the case, we can arrange your flights accordingly.

Support & Backup: To read about the excellent Support & Backup we provide before you leave and during your programme, please click here.
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