Soul of Dance

“The slaves were not allowed to practise their tribal martial arts because it was seen as dissension,” says Pema Lhalungpa, a current-day practitioner of the art. “So people would gather and disguise these martial arts as a dance.”

In fact, capoeira was illegal in Brazil until the 1930s. As a result, capoeristas did not want to compromise one another, so they gave each other nicknames — a tradition that continues today.

“My nickname is Amazona,” says Ms. Lhalungpa, who was first introduced to capoeira in her undergraduate days at UBC in Vancouver. “I saw a documentary on capoeira on TV and learned that it was offered at the university recreation centre. I fell in love with it completely.”

Having grown up the daughter of a Unicef officer, Ms. Lhalungpa has lived all around the world and appreciates the diversity of cultures.

“I was born in Bangkok, lived in Burma, the Sudan, Laos and Bangladesh, where I graduated high school before applying to Canadian universities,” Ms. Lhalungpa says. “It was amazing growing up that way, because you meet a lot of fantastic people and learn to make a lot of great friends quickly.”

After taking a BA in politics and French literature, she moved to Ottawa, where she worked as a press secretary for two federal cabinet ministers. One of the first things she did when she made the move was find a capoeira group. “I trained as much as I could.”

Last summer, she moved to London, Ont., where she is taking a full-time MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business. She found a capoeira group through the business school’s Latin American student group and has been helping teach people new to the art.

“Capoeira is a big part of my life,” Ms. Lhalungpa says. “In Vancouver, I would train at least three times a week. You don’t compete but you have what’s called a roda, that typically happens once a week.” In effect, practitioners train capoeira to learn how to play, and a roda is when they play. Everyone stands in a circle and the music and the tone dictate the pace and the flavour of the game.

“The leader of the roda plays the berimbau, an instrument that looks like a bow with one string,” Ms. Lhalungpa says. “There is a big drum and tambourine, as well. The singer or leader will sing a part of the chorus and the crowd in the circle will respond. Everyone claps hands and the idea is you are creating energy for the players. You are singing, playing and creating energy. Playing is a simulated fight.”

Depending on the game, it can be more or less aggressive, slow or fast. It’s a conversation with fight moves. You never know what’s going to happen.

“I train because I love the game and everywhere I go on vacation, the first thing I’ll do is find out if there is a group and if there is an open roda I can participate in,” Ms. Lhalungpa says. Different groups have different styles and focus on different rhythms. To date, she has participated in rodas in New York, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Virginia.

In addition to keeping her in shape, Ms. Lhalungpa appreciates the deliberate yet passionate and unpredictable nature of capoeira.

“There is so much energy. You are intensely focused on the person you are playing with. It is incredibly exciting. And it’s a fantastic outlet for my pent-up energy and emotion.”

At the same time, it has also brought discipline and patience to other areas of her life.

“A lot of the moves in capoeira are very slow, graceful and they push your body in ways you never thought your body could twist or turn. But it takes a long time to learn. It might be just moving your elbow an inch and all of a sudden you are doing it. It’s fascinating and so gratifying when you get it. That has translated into my everyday life and has become part of my thinking pattern. Instead of just reacting to a situation, I look for different ways to do things.”

At this stage, Ms. Lhalungpa cannot imagine her life without capoeira.

“This is something I want my kids to do. It is engaging, exciting and it challenges me. It’s the way I enjoy expressing my energy and who I am in an environment that encourages expression.”