Capoeira at the "Modelo Market" in Salvador, Bahia: performance and bodies on exhibit

Abstract

This research analyzes capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art, as it is practiced in a specific location: the "Mercado Modelo" in Salvador, an important tourist location in the northeastern state of Bahia. Qualitative methods using ethnographic strategies such as participant observation, field diary and semi-structured interviews were employed. Data analysis was carried out using the technique of "triangularizing information". For these purposes, four units of analysis were developed: 1) "The 'Mercado Modelo' and capoeira: between tradition and spectacle"; 2) "Capoeira at the 'Mercado Modelo': performance gesture in action"; 3) "Capoeira as a consumer good: commercialization of bodies and spectacle"; 4) "Capoeira for tourists to see: resisting in order to exist". Through the analysis of these four points, we were able to perceive that capoeira as it is performed in the 'Mercado Modelo' is highly oriented toward the show to attract tourists' attention. From this perspective, gestures are performance-oriented, meant to impress those who are watching and thus reap monetary reward. For such reasons, capoeira performers elaborate a range of strategies that oscillate between tradition and spectacle, play and competition, performance and fun; above all, they seek to preserve their place in the 'Mercado Modelo' because capoeira is their main income source.