One of my favorite upscale grocery stores that has weekly live music groups and performances also sponsors a weeklong special, featuring foods from a particular country. In the past, they’ve had the spotlight on France and Argentina. This year, they highlighted Brazil.
I sacrificed a yoga workout in order to rehearse on Monday and Tuesday for the Wednesday performance. I knew that I wasn’t going to play capoeira, but I still needed to learn the latest maculele routine and practice singing the lyrics for “Puxada de Rede.” One silver lining I had while proctoring the science TAKS Wednesday morning was going over the choreography and lyrics in my head.
So by the time I left school and went straight to the venue, I felt pretty confident. Of course, one oversight was that I forgot to pack my capoeira pants. Small detail…at least I had plenty of time to enjoy my Brazilian-style thinly sliced beef sandwich, a glass of malbec and as few fries as I could stop myself from eating.
I thought we were a little unfortunate that on the coldest day of the week, we were outside dancing in sports bras and a grass skirt. Yet, that was refreshing during our first performance. The second performance was a little colder, but just as exhilarating.
Afterwards, five pizzas and some huge salads were promptly brought out for us. I’d originally thought that I wouldn’t be around in order to eat any of it, but the guy in charge was on top of things. The food was fantastic and I had to restrain myself from going treasure hunting through the salad to get all the delicious cherry tomatoes.
Even though I’m not a “hardcore” capoeirista, I truly enjoy that I still have a viable contribution to make in helping share Brazilian culture.