From South America come exotic animals, dance crazes, and foodstuffs. So perhaps it’s no surprise that that the continent also has spawned some unique and exotic fitness programs that are now enjoying worldwide popularity.

Capoeira

Said to have evolved in colonial era Brazil as a martial art disguised as ethnic dancing, Capoeira is experiencing a wave of popularity beyond its tropical borders. It is said to be the product of a clandestine effort by African slaves to defend or liberate themselves if need be. Today, it also has a robust acrobatic undercurrent in some versions and is practiced in conjunction with its own form of music.

 In its modern form, it is viewed partly as an exercise, partly as a game. Often, two Capoeristas will pair up, enter a circle and perform sweeps, kicks, and other related moves.

There are two distinct schools of Capoeira. One, known as Angola, is accomplished with slow, low level play with special emphasis on the ritual and tradition of Capoeira as a disguised form of dance. The other, known as Regional style, focuses more on acrobatics, with an emphasis on technique and strategy.

Like many facets of Brazilian life, the importance of music in Capoeira cannot be overstated. While some classes use pre-recorded music, most encourage the practitioner to learn an instrument such as the tambourine or drum so that everyone can take turns to play. The key instrument--the one that controls the pace of the play--is the berimbau, a musical implement reminiscent of an archer’s bow--attached to a gourd.

After the abolition of slavery in Brazil, Capoeira continued to grow as a practical art form. Its martial art component, however, raised the suspicions of the Brazilian government, which went so far as ban the practice until 1937. Today, Capoeira has attained the status of a national sport tin Brazil, and its popularity continues to grow around the world. A quick scan of the Internet shows that Capoeira schools can be found throughout the North American, Europe and Asia.

Zumba

Like Capoeira, Zumba is a form of fitness that hales from South America and incorporates distinctive music. Unlike Capoeira, however, Zumba is a registered trademark in the United States, being the mid-1990s creation of fitness instructor (and Colombian native), Beto Perez. Poised at the crossroads of the Caribbean region and Central America and South America, Colombia has a rich history of musical traditions and dances.

Perez combined the sounds of the cumbia, salsa, samba and merengue musics of this native land with the dance steps favored by his clients to form Zumba.

Zumba fitness programs have been showing up everywhere these days, from trendy health clubs to YMCAs, which have this to say about it: “Zumba fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to create a dynamic fitness program that will blow you away.” (Source: Lafayette Family YMCA Fall Program Guide. 2009).

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