A capoeira nos espaços de Salvador: territórios de resistência na geografia da cidade (século XX e as duas primeiras décadas do século XXI)

Abstract

How did capoeira spread diachronically across Salvador and what spaces does it currently occupy from the headquarters of the city's groups? Based on this problem, the objective is to describe the cartography of capoeira in Salvador, from its roots in relevant moments of capoeira culture in the course of the 20th century and in the first two decades of the 21st century. A bibliographical research was carried out, emphasizing political and social factors that occurred since the beginning of the 30's that extended through the 20th century until the beginning of the 21st century, metamorphosing the meanings incorporated into the culture of capoeira. The cartography built in the text exposes part of the urban fabric of capoeira in the multi-territorial scenario of Salvador Contemporânea (schools, gyms, public spaces, among other locations) based on a compilation by the Gregório de Matos Foundation of the headquarters of 164 groups in the city in 2015. Finally, a contextualization of geographical space is constructed in Salvador's zoning, as a possibility to establish communication with other fields related to the discussion. This refers to the problematization of cartography as an instrument of socio-spatial analysis by displaying the territorial resistance of capoeira propagated by its spreading and rooting in the spaces of the city. It is concluded that considering the social factors and meanings of capoeira in Bahian society from the 1930s onwards, we find that capoeira is widespread in all areas of Salvador, present in pedagogical practices, identified as a struggle and as an instrument for the promotion of leisure in the territories of his teaching, inscribed as emerging spaces in contemporary times. As a bodily experience, it circulates around the city when experienced in the squares, streets, square parties and beaches that make capoeira a hallmark of Salvador's identity. Created in the city and distributed throughout the 20th century and in the first two decades of the 21st century, these venues can be understood as territories of resistance that bequeath the culture of capoeira in the city.