My Sister, the Capoeirista

People who see Capoeira being performed for the first time often ask the same question: is it a dance or a martial art? The music, percussion, rituals, and the way that players move elegantly around and with each other, their limbs and body parts rolling over one another like waves, gives its movements a dance-like aesthetic. And yet, the players are undeniably fighting and competing. 

This is a story from our latest magazine, The Sports Issue, and uncovers how a sport developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil helped one woman find—and keep—her footing in Europe.