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Capoeira, a ritualised, stylized, combat-dance, having its own music, and practiced primarily in the city of Salvador, Bahia, is a characteristically Brazilian expression of both dance and martial arts. It evolved from a fighting style that originated in Angola. In the early slave days there were constant fights between the blacks, and when the owner caught them at it, he had both sides punished. The slaves considered this unfair and developed a smoke screen of music and song to cover up actual fighting. Over the years this was refined into a highly athletic sport in which two contestants try to deliver blows using only their legs, feet, heels, and heads - hands are not allowed.
The combatants move in a series of swift cartwheels and whirling handstands on the floor. The musical ensemble that accompanies capoeira includes the berimbau, a bow-shaped piece of wood with a metal wire running from one end to the other. A painted gourd which acts like a sounding box is attached at the bottom of the berimbau. The player shakes the bow. While the seeds in the gourd rattle he strikes the taut wire with a copper coin which gives off a unique, moaning sound.
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