Mandinga EM Manhattan Very few people have heard about the Brazilian martial art form known as capoeira. In the film Mandinga EM Manhattan, documentary filmmaker Lazaro Faria explores how capoeira started and spread throughout the world. When people hear the term "martial art" they probably think of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan performing karate or kung fu. Although those both have a certain beauty in the ways that the body moves, there is something extremely beautiful about capoeira. Unlike other martial arts which are more about physical defense, capoeira is a combination of physical defense and dance. There are complicated moves that show a person's speed, agility, and physical power. Capoeira dancers are as graceful and nimble as ballerinas but with an earthiness which locates it in its South American origins and integration of heritages from all slave groups.

What is really interesting about capoeira...

I was particularly moved by the ritual that the wizards go through before they can enter a capoeira match, such as the leaf bath and abstaining from sexual relations with women. All the traditions show both the ancient origins of capoeira and the dedication with which people who practice it must give. It is also a means of honoring the heritage that the people have inherited from their ancestors. By practicing and mastering capoeira as well as its many intricate rituals, the modern dancers are, in fact, continuing the traditions of their predecessors and bringing ancient art into the present.
It is hard to put the value of capoeira into monetary or economic terms because it is something of an intangible. Unlike a painting or a piece of sheet music or an…