Loremil Machado (born 1953 or 1954; died March 11, 1994) was a teacher and performer of Afro-Brazilian dance. He and fellow dancer, Jelon Vieira, are considered to be responsible for the introduction of capoeira to the United States.

Career

Machado and Vieira, both natives of Bahia, Brazil, came to New York City in 1975, to perform in a production of the play ''Parto'' by Brazilian playwright Gilda Grillo and Maria Isabel Barreno. Having decided to stay, they began to teach and perform in venues around the city. Notably, Machado and Vieira performed capoeira demonstrations at public schools in the Bronx. Master capoeira teacher Mestre Acordeon has said " hesedemonstrations by Mestre Jelon ieiraand Loremil Machado are considered by many to be responsible for the incorporation of capoeira movements into breakdancing". And author Matthias Röhrig Assunção says "many people believe

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

performances inspired the break dance craze of the 1980s." The pair also taught at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts and for "four of five years" performed a weekly show of capoeira set to jazz music at the Cachaça nightclub on East 62nd Street. Machado formed his own group, the ''Loremil Machado Afro-Brazilian Dance Company'', and was a featured dancer in Vieira's ''Capoeiras of Bahia'', later renamed ''

DanceBrazil DanceBrazil is an American dance company based out of New York City, which presents works based upon the dance and music of the Brazilian culture. The company particularly excels in performances of works from the Afro-Brazilian artistic movemen ...

''. Award-winning playwright and poet Ntozake Shange was one of his students, recalling "Where else to be on New Year's Eve? In a lover's arms, you say. Or, maybe at a fabulous champagne New Year's Eve party. No, the place for me was Loremil Machado's class for the end of the year. It was as important as a midnight mass. The class was full to the corners and we were all ready for our athletic, jumping, twirling, kicking, giving much quick knees and feet..." Pioneering Black filmmaker Warrington Hudlin produced and directed a 1980 documentary short, ''Capoeira of Brazil'', featuring Vieira, Machado, Eusebio da Silva, and their students.

Death

When Machado died in 1994, the New York Times said of him: "Mr. Machado was known for the intensity of his dancing even in styles like the Brazilian martial arts form Capoeira, which calls as much for reckless daring as for skill and training." His longtime friend, writer and dancer

Barbara Browning Barbara Browning (born December 7, 1961, in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American academic, award-winning novelist, dancer, and cultural critic. Education and career Browning received her B.A. in comparative literature from Yale University in 198 ...

, said that the cause of death was

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References

External links

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Capoeira of Brazil short filmSpeed of Thought: Capoeira television feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machado, Loremil Place of birth missing Afro-Brazilian culture Brazilian emigrants to the United States Capoeira mestres 1994 deaths Year of birth uncertain

Career

Death

References

Further reading

External links