Traces of capoeira angola

Here I present an ethnography of capoeira angola on the social networking sites Orkut and Facebook between 2009 and 2012. Capoeira Angola is often described as an art of liberation, a tradition passed on by its spokespeople, the mestres. In this research, I ask myself how this tradition is disseminated, studied and renewed through the internet. I reflect on what identity the users of these communities share. I observe how the concept of tradition is discussed by virtual capoeira angola communities and how individual and collective memories involving this art are constructed and transmitted on social networking sites. Through ethnographic research it is possible to see online social networks as a hyper-reality that allows the "return of the earth on itself", a space of cultural production that shows traces of these processes of globalization and diffusion of capoeira angola.