Community in Syntony: Theorizing Axé in Capoeira Angola and Rural Samba of Backland Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Capoeira, Candomblé, and samba—three Afro-Brazilian expressive forms—are indelibly linked in the Brazilian popular imaginary, frequently listed in tandem in tourist brochures and academic literature alike. Yet their relationship remains undertheorized. This article explores the multisensory interconnections among the practices from the perspective of capoeira Angola and samba practitioners in backland Bahia. Practitioners consistently referred to Candomblé when describing their experiences of music and movement, revealing that the practices cultivate shared ways of orienting bodies to sound. More specifically, although the vital force of axé is a concept from Candomblé, practitioners experience axé as affective sound vibrations also resonating in capoeira and samba, bringing their bodies into motion and syntony (aligning frequencies). Ultimately, I argue that axé also resonates beyond the space-times of capoeira events, cohering a community premised upon shared ways of sensing that are grounded in Afro-Brazilian spirituality.