Globalization, authenticity and legitimacy in Mexican capoeira

Abstract

As Capoeira globalizes, a growing number of non-Brazilian practitioners have the opportunity to become capoeira masters (Mestres). In this context, my contribution analyses strategies followed by the first Mexican man and woman to obtain what Griffith calls the “ultimate marker of authenticity”. As I have argued in another place (Author, 2021), Mexican Capoeira is interesting because it seems to have achieved a more advanced glocalization state than “diasporic capoeira” in the Global North. Thus, examining the life stories of Mexican Mestres might prove interesting to compare the dynamics of authenticity/legitimacy in globalized Capoeira across the North-South-Divide. While my findings corroborate many of Griffith’s observations regarding the strategies non-Brazilian capoeiristas employ to achieve legitimacy, they also point out some crucial differences in issues such as innovation, apprenticeship pilgrimages, and the status of the title of Mestre as the “ultimate marker of authenticity”.