Aché BrasilACHé BRASIL – AN EXPLOSION OF COLOUR! ENERGY! AND MUSIC!Aché Brasil is a touring performance group based in Vancouver, BC. Equal parts music, dance and acrobatics, they infuse the culture, traditions and music of Brazil in a spectacle of movement and color. They have preformed to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim all over North America and have received a nomination for 'Live Performers of the Year' at the West Coast Music Awards. Through music and dance, this high energy group educates and entertains audiences of all ages about Brazil's cultural diversity. The musicians and dancers of Aché Brasil exhibit a rare combination of authenticity and excellence in their work, which is presently unmatched in North America.Aché Brasil and Capoeira Aché Brasil gratefully acknowledges the support of Canada Council for the Arts (Music Section, Dance Section and Touring Office), and The Province of British Columbia, through the British Columbia Arts Council. Your warmth and enthusiastic rapport with the audience, combined with your infectious rhythmsand dazzling dance created an evening of unsurpassed enjoymentmore...See more text
It’s a dance…no, it’s a martial art…actually, it’s both!
Capoeira Aché Brasil Academy manager Christianne Odehnal explains: “Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that was developed by the slaves in Brazil, about 400 years ago. While they were in captivity, they were not allowed to learn a martial art, of course, so the slaves disguised it as a dance.”
Christianne calls this practice “one of the most beautiful and exotic martial arts in the world,” and watching pupils move around this East Van studio you’d be hard pressed to disagree. Students leap and swing with their legs, ducking and swooping in time to rhythms and chants, all with an infectious energy.
Capoeira is an art form that seems as joyful as it is aggressive, as much about celebration as it is about power. Like other martial arts, it’s also about character and behaviour in the larger world. “The way you play Capoeira reflects how you are inside and how you are in the world,” Christianne says. “It shows who you are, like a mirror.”
