With origins in Brazil, capoeira has become widespread in the United States and other countries among both children and adults. A blend of dance and martial art, participants compete to outmaneuver each other in a graceful exchange performed to musical accompaniment that establishes the rhythm of each game. George Ancona’s appealing, high-interest photodocumentary offers insight into both the movements and the music in capoeira , as well as its history and traditions. Ancona’s photos and narrative follow a group of young students here in the United States, as well as their instructors, who journey to Brazil in order to learn and to teach. (Ages 7–11)

CAPOEIRA -- it's a game, a dance, a martial art! It's a way of expressing oneself through movement and music. With action-packed photographs and accessible text, readers are introduced to this exciting, popular game.

At Madinga Academy in Oakland, California, a group of girls and boys practice the acrobatic moves of capoeira. Then they begin to play games to the infectious, rhythmic beat of traditional music and singing.

On to Brazil to experience capoeira in its historic birthplace, where it dates back four hundred years. Capoeira developed as a way of fighting among enslaved Africans, was outlawed the the government, and was permitted once again in 1930 as a martial art and game.

Back in Oakland, at an end-of-year ceremony, students receive their colored ropes indicating their levels of accomplishment. They also look forward to next year, and the fun of expressing themselves through the game, dance and martial art of capoeira.