Long-time hub of D.C.’s capoeira scene gains a name
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From the doorway of a nonprofit organization on the northern end of Rhode Island Avenue NE, music, laughter and joy spill forth from practitioners and aficionados devoted to capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art form that blends combat and music with a dance-like movement called “ginga.”
Inside the dynamic space, a wall-length mural captures a classic scene between two capoeiristas. Crouched low to the ground, they wait for the rhythm of a berimbau, a bow-like string instrument, to begin their game, or “jogo,” of attacks, counterattacks and defensive moves. First developed by enslaved communities in colonial Brazil, capoeira is now estimated to have over 8 million practitioners worldwide.
For years, The Capoeira Spot, a nonprofit organization and community hub, has offered capoeira classes in the Washington, D.C., area. One recent Sunday, event goers crowded the organization’s lobby to witness this art form live. The crowd clapped along to the rhythm of the berimbau. Novices and masters alike evaded each other’s kicks and sang songs retelling stories of Afro-Brazilian warriors, deities and traditions.
The day marked the end of nearly a week of activities that included a free class for the community and workshops for participants. The night before, the space held a graduation ceremony for the organization’s capoeira academy students.
At the center of these festivities sat co-founder Renford Powell, more fondly known as Mestre Morcego. On that Sept. 7 afternoon, community members assembled to witness Morcego formally receive the title of “mestre,” or master of capoeira, the highest ranking title in the tradition.
to the title of mestre.
Becoming a mestre takes decades, requiring both expertise in the art form and a deep devotion to the capoeira community. Over the last two decades, Morcego has done that for Washington, D.C., expanding the world of capoeira through classes, after-school programs and public performances.
“We want to be a beacon for good capoeira. We want to be an example of good leadership and good community,” Morcego says to the crowd.
The event marked another milestone for the organization: the renaming of its nonprofit arm after years of operating under the name The Capoeira Spot. While the studios where classes are held will retain the original name, the nonprofit that operates out of the same location now has a new identity as Estrela Preta CapoeriaDC.
“Estrela Preta” means “Black Star” in English. Morcego says the name is both an homage to the Dogon tribe in Mali — known as “Star People” for their cosmology — and the Black Star Line, a historic shipping company founded in 1919 by Pan-Africanist and Jamaican philosopher, Marcus Garvey — an inspiration for Morcego, who is also Jamaican-born. It also better reflects the organization’s enduring legacy and commitment to the Afro Brazilian tradition, Morcego says.
“The idea is to honor who created capoeira and where it comes from — the land of the preta. Anyone who comes to capoeira must understand its roots,” Morcego says, a sentiment that echoes Garvey’s famous belief that the key to both the individual and collective empowerment of the Black community was through valuing and understanding its history.
Morcego first encountered capoeira in 1998 at one of its birthplaces: Salvador, Bahia, a city in Northeast Brazil known for its Afro Brazilian history, culture and religiosity. Although he was originally following a passion for soccer, Morcego returned to Washington with a desire to learn more, captivated by both the art form and its complex past.
Historically, Salvador was one of the largest slave ports in colonial Brazil. In 1835, it was also the site of what is now known as the Malê Revolt, a massive uprising led by enslaved Muslim Africans. Capoeira emerged around the same time in enslaved communities as a disguised means of collective resistance that incorporated dance and song to evade punishment.
Morcego says that capoeira was not created for capoeiristas to fight each other. “It was created for the person who doesn’t know about capoeira. It uses elements of surprise out of defense, not aggression,” he says.
Due to capoeira’s subversive nature, it was illegal in Brazil until the 1930s. Its subsequent decriminalization was in large part due to world-renowned capoeira master Mestre Bimba. He developed capoeira regional, a style of capoeira that incorporated frameworks like training tutorials and a cord system similar to karate that designated one’s rank by a specific color. In 2008, Brazil’s National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN) recognized the art form as cultural heritage.
After returning to D.C. from Salvador, Morcego trained under several mestres. While it has been nearly thirty years since he first started honing his craft, Morcego says he is “still in development.”
“I learn from my students as I teach them,” he says. “Students come with their own expertise. We throw it in the pot like gumbo, and everybody eats from it. That’s the beauty of the community in capoeira.”
As a man of metaphors, Morcego compares the life created by capoeira to a garden. “Plant that seed, let it grow,” he says,”take care of it, keep the best stuff to keep you from being discouraged and to give you fruit.”
In 2002, Morcego and seven other local capoeiristas — including his now wife, Aysha Corbett, known to her students as Professora Borboleta — founded CapoeiraDC, an offshoot of Capoeira Malês headquartered in Seattle. After two decades of shifting internal dynamics and visions regarding the mission of the organization, Morcego and Borboleta separated from the group in 2022 to independently establish The Capoeira Spot.
Today, Morcego is the executive director and Borboleta is the treasurer of both organizations. Both teach classes at the school, along with several “instrutores” and “profesores” who are high-ranking practitioners who can teach capoeira. One of the instructors is their daughter, Iansã Powell, or Instrutora Maré, who grew up at the academy. Together, these mentors teach classes to 300 participants a year.
Powell says the organization is about developing his students’ creative energy.
“When I look at people, I see a bag of potential. The discipline you need to develop something like capoeira and keep yourself hands on is the same discipline and ‘stick-tuitiveness’ that you need to be successful at anything,” Morcego says. He gained his nickname, “Morcego or bat,” due to his dedication to training at all hours, and the first thing he teaches students is that the revolution is within them.
The organization’s egalitarian approach to teaching shapes its diverse array of classes, which range from an 8-week beginner course to advanced classes, as well as sessions tailored for kids and senior citizens.
As Borboleta says, “the way to protect capoeira is to continue it,” emphasizing that community must not only be created, but sustained.
The duo’s two-decade presence in D.C. is proof that there is value in steady, purposeful work. Amid today’s made-to-go lifestyle and fast-paced consumerism, Morcego hopes his students learn that the heart of capoeira lies in patience and persistence.
Morcego says that capoeira isn’t something one can just get. “There’s no store to buy 10 pounds of it off the shelf, 10 pounds of ‘armada 1a spinning kick‘ or three pounds of ‘aú 2a cartwheel.'” Instead, he says. “You have to cultivate capoeira.”
The night he was elevated to mestre, this cultivated community was on full display. Toddlers, just learning to walk, slipped past their parents’ hands to run freely around the space. Students showed off the new belts they received at the graduation ceremonies the night prior. Mestres who had watched Morcego progress since his student days sang a call-and-response, paying tribute to the momentous occasion:
É bonito demais
Ver o meu Mestre jogar
Ver o meu Mestre jogar, é bonito
Ver o meu Mestre jogar
“It is too beautiful
To see my Mestre play
To see my Mestre play, it is beautiful
To see my Mestre play”
Addressing the crowd filled with people who had accompanied him on this ascent to masterhood, Morcego imparted a message of gratitude.
“We don’t get here by ourselves,” he says. “We must give respect and value to all that comes before us.”
On Dec. 6, Estrela Preta will host its next CapoeriaDC Annual Show & Fundraiser at THEARC Black Box Theatre.
– Story by Tricia De Souza
– Copy edited by Valerie Izquierdo, Daniela Garcia Perez and Kami Waller
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