The second Jakarta International Capoeira Festival (CapoFest 2008) began Tuesday, featuring Brazilians and Indonesians performing capoeira -- a Brazilian blend of dance, martial arts and acrobatics.
This year's event, which runs until July 28 at Plaza Semanggi shopping center in Central Jakarta, is a continuation of CapoFest 2006, which attracted some 20,000 visitors, according to the International Sinha Bahia de Capoeira (ISBC), a certified capoeira group sponsoring the event along with the Brazilian embassy.
"We want to show there's more to Brazilian culture than just soccer," Brazilian Ambassador Edmundo Fujita said with a smile at a press conference to promote CapoFest.
"Our goal is to help spread Brazilian culture both in Indonesia and throughout Asia."
ISBC is a nonprofit international Brazilian capoeira school, promoting capoeira as the national treasure of Brazilian martial arts and culture worldwide.
Capoeira is often classified as a martial art, but it is described by the ISBC as "a martial art which emphasizes beautiful movements that flow naturally, along with acrobatic elements and dances, as well as unique music".
"Capoeira was brought by African slaves to Brazil, combining elements of African culture, Portuguese culture and indigenous culture," Diah Marsidi, the event's organizing committee chairperson, said.
The development of capoeira came from the need for black slaves in Brazil to practice self-defense and martial arts without interference from the slave owners.
"They devised capoeira as a way to practice self-defense by disguising it as dancing, combining the training with traditional African music and rhythms," Fujita said.
In many capoeira performances, the participants use martial arts moves, such as kicks, sweeps and flips, but take care not to make contact with their "opponent" so as not to disrupt the flow and artistic integrity of the dance.
According to ISBC, capoeira can create an atmosphere of friendship and harmony within each of its movements without removing the competitive value found in martial arts.
Today, capoeira incorporates not only traditional African rhythms, but also Brazilian rhythms such as samba, maculele and jongo.
The festival comes at an appropriate time. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Indonesia two weeks ago to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The festival will feature performers from both Indonesia and Brazil, as well as others from Southeast Asia. The shows will run everyday from Wednesday through Sunday.
The event organizers are looking to expand on last year's success by creating a more inclusive and interactive event that goes deeper into the roots of Brazilian customs and culture.
"We want to give a different side of capoeira which has not been known by common people," said Mestre Cicatriz, head of ISBC Asia Pacific.
On Friday and Saturday, the festival's spectators are encouraged to train with the performers and learn the basics of capoeira under the supervision of the mestres, or teachers.
"This not just a showcase of capoeira, it is an opportunity for cross-cultural dialogue," Cicatriz said.
"We want to include everyone... Beginners, experts, natives, nonnatives. Everyone."
-- The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
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