Nottingham Contemporary

Capoeira has been in the UK for over 30 years, however it is still unknown to many people. With the introduction of social media, capoeira is becoming more popular with many dancers, martial artists and movement practitioners showing an interest in capoeira.

In April, we supported Capoeira Collective and WAHAD to produce Nova Geração 2022, a 3-day event featuring capoeira, music and a small grading lead by up-and-coming young teachers. The last 2 days of the event were held here at Nottingham Contemporary in The Space, followed by an evening social in Blend at Contemporary.

By calling on some of the most talented young Capoeiristas in the UK, the event intended to create a space where young people in the capoeira community could meet others with the same interests, alongside sharing capoeira with people who had never experienced it before.

This was the first event of it’s kind to be held in the UK and we hope for more events like this to come.

“Reflecting on Capoeira as someone who is interested in body-working as part of a holistic wellbeing practice, I saw how Capoeira is multi-faceted healing art and how it can repair some of the frayed ties to our heritage as Black people and diaspora. It felt very special to be a part of such an important weekend and I’m so grateful to Qaa’sim and Capoeira Collective for sharing their energy, time and community with the gallery.” - Chan, Young People’s Programmer