Searching for Capoeira

My highschool cross-country coach once said I had the most willpower she's ever seen. When I'm determined about something, I'm serious. The other day I was determined to watch capoeira, the dance-fighting that was invented by the African slaves brought to Brazil. I got a tip that the martial art could be seen on Sundays at the basketball courts at Ibirapuera Park, so I began my quest there, killing two birds with one stone by running as I searched.

I first encountered a stadium featuring Mickey on Ice, which was not the ideal spot for running as I had to evade hundreds of sugared-up kids in mouse ear hats. There was a grade school athletic competition next door, called Junior Olympics where I grew up. When I entered the actual park, I came across a disappointing magic show that was 95% yelling & 5% tricks. But the next thing I saw had some impressive tricks - the army sponsored an event and I got there just in time to watch the dog show. These were the best trained canines you could imagine. Each dog stood patiently by their own military master, ready to show off their skill. They followed commands like doing figure eights between the trainers' legs, jumping into their arms, and walking backwards on their hind legs. Then they competed in an obstacle course of ladders, hoops and hurdles. The crowd went wild when two of the dogs made the highest jump.

So I found some fun, but no capoeira. I jogged on, discovering a sports tradeshow and the preshow buzz of an MPB (Brazilian pop) concert. I asked a few people where I could find the sport, and where the basketball courts were, but I was out of luck. However, I did speak to Juliette Lewis when she was about 15, and time travel beats dance-fighting any day.