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Article: Capoeira: Playing in the circle: Salem club is drawn to the moves and music of the Afro-Brazilian martial art.
- Article from:
- The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA)
- Article date:
- December 23, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Roanoke Times. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Marques G. Harper
Dec. 23--In a stark, cinder block room in Salem, the smell of sweat lingers in the air. A group, mostly males in their 20s, begins a series of gravity-defying moves including flips, spins, cartwheels and handstands.
Dressed head to foot in white, they practice routines reminiscent of scenes from "Fight Club" or "The Matrix."
The group that's in this stuffy room at the Roanoke College gymnasium isn't learning to fight. Its members are here to play a game.
It's called capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art practiced by African slaves in Brazil centuries ago and considered illegal to play there until the late ...