How Capoeira Changed My Life

In “Showing What Is Possible,” Jacques D’Amboise reflects on an experience when a teacher helped him discover ballet. Madame Seda helped D’Amboise fulfill his talent. With ballet, he overcame the pressure to join a gang like his friends. D’Amboise was able to become a well-known ballet dancer with help from his teachers. When it was time to retire from dancing, he started the National Dance Institute. This project enabled D’Amboise to influence his own students around the world. An influential teacher can affect one’s future by challenging pupils to move past their comfort zones, teaching them to actively control their future, and setting up an environment where they can improve together.

Whether rooted deeply through generations of a family or formed through an experience, passions and fascinations are what drives us, humans, to be who we truly are. At this point in my life, I do not want to reach comfort or perfection, but rather feel composed and confident in what I chose to merge my ballet skills with. When I dance, I escape reality and feel a pure exhilaration.This sensation shapes my curiosity and interest in the human anatomy. From the elements that make it up to ways in which people individually move their bodies, the human body is absolutely fascinating. Specifically, I am passionate about teaching ballet to younger students. By introducing ballet to kids early on, they will experience the same joy almost all dancers feel for a longer period of time. When I’m dancing I’m challenging your mind, releasing endorphins, and working hard. I am also eager to own my own business linked with teaching that will provide people with affordable dance equipment, and even more crucial, advice on what suits each person's personal needs. I know as I grow old my body will not be as capable as it once was, but I’m dedicated to spreading my appreciation of ballet to others. Overall, my passion for ballet and how I can utilize it to positively impact society as an entrepreneur has developed through the inspiration of my grandparents, the creativity of my former dance teachers, and my interest in the human bodies relation to ballet.

It was volleyball heading into freshman year that changed it all for me. I realized if I was going to pursue my dream of being the best libero, I had to work my butt off. It definitely wasn’t easy, I had bruises, scars, and was sore day after day that summer. I still was very frustrated because I knew I could get better but it just wasn’t in God's timing. When it came to freshman year volleyball tryouts I went in calm, because when I’m nervous I don’t play well. I heard from coaches “Great pass, Jamaica!” or “Nice job, Jamaica!” but then it came. The day where we found out what teams we got on. My dream was to make varsity, but that wasn’t the case this year. Will the JV coach pulled each of us into his office and he said to me “You will be the starting libero for JV and for

My impressions of life have always been connected to movement expression. When I was a child, I used to dance Frevo (a Brazilian folk dance), and, since then, the dance has been part of me, and I have not been able to understand life in a different way. During my undergraduate course (BA in Arts Education – Performing Arts) in Brazil,

Radio City Music Hall, professional ballet productions, and Broadway are only a few places audiences can watch graceful athletes called dancers. Many times these talented people have had to sit and listen to sport experts say repeatedly that dance is not a sport but but is instead an artform or hobby, like singing. This assumption is not only false but is an insult as well. Dancers sacrifice many hours learning, preparing, and execution dances that will be performed in front of hundreds of people. Yet, when the dancers come off of the stage, chests heaving from the effort to appear graceful and beautiful, some critics look at them not as athletes, but as hobbyists. The definition of sport, according to the Oxford dictionary, is “an activity

Any artist would agree with me in saying that experiencing art is of value to, and almost necessary to achieve, a well cultured life. This research should give a non-dancer a great idea of why dancers love what they do.

That there are always ways to ensure growth in one’s self as well as promote social, moral, and intellectual growth among those in one’s community through dedicating oneself to their passion. Over the years, having witnessed moments of humility and sorrow from dancers older than I, I have gained understanding of how necessary it is to provide an encouraging outlook on the world for the sake of the young and eager eyes you are inspiring. This understanding guided me with new focus and purpose. I have devoted a majority of my time for the last four years to teaching dance. The experience of teaching has influenced me to have an optimistic view of the world. I have attempted to teach my students these same values of confidence and integrity in order to encourage them to find lessons of their own that they can pass on to others. I feel as though there is no greater form of gratification than motivating those whom look up to you. I have focused my training during the last few years on bettering myself in order to better my students. Empowerment is a flourishing component of the art, and seeing the ignition of such positivity in young dancers has been a valued

Prior to actually taking Brazilian dance class, I just assumed it was another one of those slow moving ballad dances but for a different culture. This is due to barely being deduced to how the brazilian culture in like in reality, as the only two types of dance I was shown were Jazz dance, which I really enjoy, and New Orleans dance, which I’m actually not very fond of (85% percent of it involves bounce, which I am not a fan of at all). But after a few classes went by, I was proven wrong. Brazilian dance is very different from both Jazz dance and New Orleans dance.

Brazilian war dance called capoeira, is a 16th century by African immigrants being developed in Brazil, between the unique art of dance and martial arts between. Although the presence of hundreds of years, but until the later 1930s capoeira was officially allowed to practice granted spread among the people, because of this dance originated in Africa, but a considerable degree of integration of the cultural identity of the local indigenous people in Brazil, it is considered one of Brazil's most important symbol of the local culture and national sport. Capoeira is a martial art form combining African and Brazilian culture. From the fifteenth century by West African slaves taken

For fifteen years I have given my heart and soul to the art form I love, ballet, and I cherish the opportunity to give back to my ballet community by volunteering to teach students at my ballet school. Young dancers often face setbacks early in their dance experiences ranging from injuries to body image issues. When I first began dancing, I was small in stature compared to my peers, so I often danced roles designed for younger children. I felt discouraged, but because the older dancers intimidated me, I rarely sought them out for advice. By serving as a ballet instructor, I work to build relationships with young, aspiring ballerinas, from feisty four year-olds to anxious sixth graders. Beyond offering simple corrections during classes,

While capoeira itself is an interesting and complex topic, one of the biggest things to set capoeira apart is its uniqueness to Brazil and the culture it represents. Brazil imported an estimated 4.9 million Africans in a 300 year period, resulting in a huge slave population. Capoeira was developed as a way for slaves to express their frustrations and culture with a unique practice that allowed them to establish their individuality. The martial art brought Afro-Brazilian culture together by emphasizing a power struggle inverse to what the slaves were living - the man on the ground held power status, possibly to represent the relationship between a slave and his owner. This contributed to animosity from white colonists who viewed capoeira as a criminal activity. While Afro-Brazilian culture celebrated dance and martial arts, those in Mexico were partial to paintings and

Prior to studying business and finance at New York University, I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer. I fell in love with the art form as a freshman in high school when I saw a performance of the Nutcracker. At that moment, I decided to take up ballet. Seven years later than the traditional path I began to study dance, but through tenacity and dedication I was able to gain acceptance to Boston Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Program after a year and a half at a local studio. Nevertheless, I was put in a class with middle school students, most of whom were more talented than me. Though I rarely ever think of ballet as a team activity, as I reflect upon my experience years later, I realize that my classmates and I were truly a team and that I was able to have an impact on them as a leader.

George Ancona, in his book, Capoeira: Game! Dance! Martial Art!, says that it is just that: “Capoeira – it’s a game, a dance, a martial art.” However he goes on further to say that “For those who play capoeira, it is a way of life.” Another article states that” most capoeira players themselves see the lessons and skills learned in the game as helpful in, and usually central to, the proper conduct of everyday life.” Indeed Capoeira seems to be much more than your usual martial art. Jane Atwood describes Capoeira by saying “Take the following: martial arts, jumping, cart-wheeling, dancing, music, chanting, African roots, and Brazilian influence. Roll them into one, and you’ve got capoeira. Capoeira, in its simplest terms, is an expression of movement. Greg Downey, in his article, Listening to Capoeira: Phenomenology, Embodiment, and the Materiality of Music, describes Capoeira as a “’blurred genre,’ combining elements of dance, folklore, martial art, sport, ritual, and training for unarmed (and sometimes armed) fighting” All of these things are accurate descriptions of what capoeira is, which implies that it borrows from several pieces of the culture that formed it, making it a cultural art form as

To excel in a field requires dedication, repetition, and genuine passion. Growing up I dreamed of being a ballerina. At the age of eleven, I moved away from home and lived with a host family in order to attend a renowned dance school, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. For nearly two years I attended public school during the day, ballet classes and rehearsals each night and weekend, and rarely saw my family. Although leaving my home and entering into a stranger’s was incredibly intimidating, I happily committed thirty hours each week to training and approached

The ceilings were vaulted 30 feet high and windows filtered in a pale mid day April sunlight. Girls of all shapes and builds showed up; slender and short, towering and muscular. Their commonality was that they were all older than my naïve, pre-pubescent age of 12. I was especially nervous for the pointe section of the audition; I knew that my ankles were strong, but not with the confidence and poise of a seasoned dancer. In my anxiety, I could barely remember the floor combinations the instructor marked. Barre ended, floor began, and pirouettes later I could feel myself losing balance, off the box of my shoe. I landed on the ground with a thud, humiliated and bruised. I could feel scores of eyes drawn silently in my direction as I scrambled to stand. The audition ended without excitement, and I walked home, trying to keep tears at bay. I was further mortified to find that my mother had baked me brownies while I was gone as a congratulatory gesture. I was a complete disappointment with broken toenails and strained tendons and yet, a month later, I received my acceptance letter to train in New