Capoeira is a holistic art and philosophy of life combining movement, dance and music, with profound cultural roots in the traditions of black slaves from Brazil and Africa. It treads the fine line between a martial art and a dance, where your personal spirit can find full expression, embrace its power and meet its demons. My encounter with capoeira was rather “fortuitous” but a life changing one. It immensely expanded my horizons, my sense of purpose in life and my desire to meet and overcome both my physical and mental limits; it gave me a precious sense of belonging to a diverse and buzzing community and access to a ever so rich culture. In the capoeira rodas you can call me Alicate. I will be forever thankful to Contramestre Bombril for welcoming me into his school and his group. That’s my family, eu sou Muzenza!
Baris is an extraordinary mover and teacher. His roots are deep in the powerful art of capoeira. He developed a body conditioning practice, inspired by capoeira movements, which focuses on the progressive and harmonious improvement of body flexibility and strength. By aiming at becoming a bambu body, the practitioner develops their own mobility alongside their movement intelligence (kinaesthesia), thus turning into a more efficient and confident mover. I particularly appreciate Baris’ ability to break movement down into its simple elements which you can then combine to create your own expressive sequences.
Rolfing is a fascial massage which propelled forward my journey of self-discovery and reappropriation of my body’s potential. I couldn’t recommend Rolfing more to anybody who is seeking release from pain and tension, better posture and alignment, freedom of movement and expression, embodiment of their own emotions. Luke Gregorczyk is a practitioner of the highest class, reliable, insightful and empowering.
Gaga is aimed at developing freedom of movement and expression. It offers the practitioner a framework to help them connect to their body and imagination, experience physical sensations, improve their flexibility and stamina, embrace and enjoy the pleasure of movement. The teacher guides you through a series of evocative instructions layered in order to build a multi-sensorial, physically challenging experience. The whole experience is constantly embodied while body and space awareness are progressively developed and the sensations amplified and immediately translated into movement, rhythm, breath. Because of its improvisational nature, Gaga is a physical exploration which leaves great space for the practitioner to develop a deep personal connection with the movement practice and their own body.
Yamuna Zake developed a method of self-conditioning called Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR) which uses balls specially made to fit the uneven surfaces of the musculoskeletal system with their appropriate hardness and flexibility. YBR gives people the possibility to work on themselves in order to sustain their postures, flexibility, strength, and alignments throughout their lives, and to relieve daily aches and improve quality of life. This unique method has aspects of both exercise and treatment. Its extraordinary effect is the multidimensional elongation of muscle fibres and the capacity to reach internal organs and improve the circulatory and nervous system functions. Leading individual body parts into their accurate positions, the balls help create the necessary space in the body to improve joint mobility and range of motion.
These are the contacts of Bernardo Ricou Gama’s Gyrotonic® studio in Lisbon.
@bernardogama_gyrotonic.trainer