Pastinha Insisted His Game Was Not a Dance

WHY THIS ARTICLE

The 'capoeira is a dance' cliché is old and persistent. The thesis shows Pastinha himself fighting it in print — defending the game's status as an effective means of combat, not a performance.

A defence in the opening pages

Pastinha took care to specify, from the first pages of his 1964 book Capoeira Angola, that despite its indisputable merits as an effective means of wrestling, certain people who considered themselves authorities in matters of sport saw in capoeira a mere dance to the sound of the berimbau. He wanted to silence these adversaries on the capoeira scene.

The book's purpose

The master stated that his little book had as its principal aim to give a panoramic idea of the possibilities capoeira offers as a means of personal defence and physical development — and he hoped it would contribute to its wider diffusion. The dedication went, specially, to the disciples who spontaneously collaborated in the demonstrations for the tourists visiting his academy.

Why it matters

The 'dance' label is not a modern misunderstanding but one the masters themselves contested in print. Pastinha's insistence is evidence that the game's fighting seriousness had to be defended against its own audience.

SOURCES

La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles (1905–1984), thèse de doctorat, Université des Antilles, 2020 (Part III: Mestre Pastinha, Capoeira Angola, 1964)

IN THE CORPUS

→ The Blow That Was Never Meant to Land

→ The Most Spectacular Capoeira Is the Most Criticised

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

MALO, Olivier. Pastinha Insisted His Game Was Not a Dance. In: Black Combat Arts Institute — Articles [online]. No. 107. 2026 [accessed date]. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/articles/pastinha-insisted-his-game-was-not-a-dance. Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis, Université des Antilles, 2020.