Historical Clues in N′golo for the Understanding of Floreio in Capoeira

This research, developed from a historical perspective on bodily knowledge, seeks to approach the understanding of Capoeira as an artistic and multicultural manifestation. In doing so, it highlights the need to study floreio (a specific form of ancestral bodily knowledge within this expression). The research aimed to identify clues on how the floreios manifest themselves in the ancestral bodily practices of Capoeira, especially in N′golo (African manifestation considered one of the ‘mothers’ of Capoeira). The study adopts a documentary and historical approach, analyzing 20 drawings of N’golo from the Neves e Sousa collection. The analysis was guided by pre-established categories focused on bodily elements, including agonistic, balletic, acrobatic, displacing, and theatrical dimensions. It was identified that there are similar movements and expressions between N’golo and Capoeira, and some differences, typical of each manifestation. From the anthropological perspective of performance, the aspect of intangibility of the floreio was ascertained, unfolding in looks at the worldview, the becoming-animal, the weapon, the spiritual and the anthropophagic behavior and, finally, a mystery understood under the allegory of the patuá. There is clearly an African ancestral presence in Capoeira, constituting it as a culturally diverse manifestation, specially through the floreio

Narrative · Martial Arts: Techniques, Psychology, and Education · Mechanics and Biomechanics Studies · Sports Dynamics and Biomechanics