Maculelê (stick dance)
Maculelê is an Afro-Brazilian stick-dance from Bahia.
Maculele, a stick fighting dance from Santo Amaro, was introduced to a wider audience by Viva Bahia, a capoeira theater group founded in 1963. Viva Bahia's founder, Emília Biancardi, had researched Bahian folklore for many years and integrated maculele into her group's performances. Major capoeira groups, such as those led by mestres Bimba, Pastinha, and Canjiquinha, soon adopted maculele as well.
Origins
The German painter Rugendas observed African slaves stick fighting during the 1820s in Brazil:That stick fighting and dancing have endured into the twentieth century through forms like maculêlê.
Form
In the roda, one or more atabaques positioned at the entrance of the circle. Each person brandishes a pair of long sticks, traditionally made from biriba, canzi, or pitia wood from Brazil. The sticks, called grimas, traditionally measure long by thick. As the Maculelê rhythm plays on the atabaque, the people in the circle begin rhythmically striking the sticks together. The leader sings, and the people in the circle respond by singing the chorus of the songs. When the leader gives the signal to begin playing Maculelê, two people enter the circle, and to the rhythm of the atabaque, they begin striking their own and each other's sticks together. On the first three beats, they strike their own sticks together, making expressive and athletic dance movements, and on each fourth beat, they strike each other's respective right-hand stick together. This makes for a dance that looks like "mock stick combat"..Maculelê has steps similar to many other Brazilian dances such as "frevo" from Pernambuco, "Moçambique" from São Paulo, "Cana-verde" from Vassouras-RJ, "Bate-pau" from Mato Grosso, "Tudundun" from Pará among others.