Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art that involves music, dance, and martial art movements. I don't know much about it except from my weekly encounters at Last School. One of the older girls at Last Schools offers it as a class, and a handful of students at Last School participate. When I arrive, the students are sitting in a roda, or a circle, which appears sacred when the game is in session, considering the stern look that the teacher gave to a student that nearly walked through the formed circle). The teacher, or any other willing participant, plays the music for the players, who engage in play of dance and martial art movements (at this stage, there is no real physical contact). At Last School, instruments like tambourines are played, as well as the Brazilian Berimbau, a single-stringed percussion instrument made from wire, wood, and a hollowed gourd.
The range of classes and workshops offered at Last School is really fantastic. They do a great job of utilizing the qualities and passions of anyone that is willing to share, such as this Capoeira class, a theatre class held by another one of the senior students, or even more off-beat workshops like the break-dance class by a friend a made at Mitra Youth Hostel. All in all, the senior students at Last School are quite impressive; each one seems remarkably confident, well grounded, and well rounded. But this is not always the case. For instance, I am often struggling to get my class to do their homework, which honestly happens with or without examinations. I expressed my frustration and admitted my inability to solve this problem, especially in a system that strives to be less rigid than the education system from which I come. The other teachers laughed with me and told me that they have been struggling with the same problem for years: how do we make kids want to learn?
(Capoeira at Last School)