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As the Maculelê rhythm plays on the
atabaque, the people in the circle begin rhythmically striking the sticks
together. The leader sings, and the people in the circle respond by singing
the chorus of the songs. When the leader gives the signal to begin playing
Maculelê, two people enter the circle, and to the rhythm of the atabaque,
they begin striking their own and each other's sticks together. On the first
three beats, they strike their own sticks together, making expressive and
athletic dance movements, and on each fourth beat, they strike each other's
respective right-hand stick together. This makes for a dance that looks like
"mock stick combat". (Also, traditionally in Maculelê, the players wear
dried grass skirts). The
origins of Maculelê are obscure, and there are many stories, theories and
beliefs that claim "this is how Maculelê came to be". Here are three:
1. During the slavery era in Brazil, the slaves in the sugarcane plantations
would gather and play Maculelê as a game to vent their anger and frustration
from being slaves. At this time, machetes were used instead of sticks.
Sticks were later incorporated for safety reasons. However, some experts
still use machetes.
2. There were two tribes in
Brazil: a peaceful tribe, and a warlike one. The warlike tribe would
repeatedly attack the peaceful tribe, who had no way of defending
themselves. One day, during an attack, a young boy named "Maculelê" picked
up a pair of sticks and fought off the other tribe. The other tribe never
attacked again. The boy didn't manage to fight them off completely, but did
die trying. His home tribe then made a mock combat dance using sticks and
named the dance "Maculelê" in his honor and memory.
3. An interior West African
village was embroiled in a regional conflict. All of the warriors of the
village were called to the front lines to defend their people from invaders.
All of the able bodied men gathered their arms and went to join the battle.
The next day, the villagers were awakened to find their small village,
supposedly far from the battle, was being attacked by part of the invading
army. With no warriors left to defend the village, an unlikely hero emerged.
A young boy took up two simple sticks and inspired the remaining villagers
to mount a fearless defense. His heroic efforts became legend are
represented in the Maculelê.
Maculelê is sometimes practiced by itself, but is quite often practiced
alongside capoeira, and is featured in many capoeira performances. It should
be noted that Maculelê and Capoeira are fairly similar in style. |
