Capoeira & Culture:

The overall purpose of this innovative and interactive workshop is to connect theory with practice of international management and cross-cultural competence.  This will be facilitated through a number of experiential workshop sessions based around the Expatriate Experience and CCAPE models and Capoeira. The workshop is designed to give a real grounded experience followed by reflective discussion to identify key learning points.  Such sessions help connect the students to cognitive, kinaesthetic, visual and auditory learning.  

Example of one of the role plays in connection with Capoeira:

Albatross role play & Capoeira
Explanation:The Albatross cross-cultural role play simulates first contact with a strange, fictitious and unknown culture.  Between 6 & 12 students are asked to volunteer to enter the world of the Albatross and meet their King and Queen (played by facilitators).  The remaining students will act as observers and be asked for feedback later. During the encounter, the students will be asked to adapt and adjust to the new cultural setting by having to greet the King and Queen and follow their unusual rituals.  This will be followed by a debrief and a Capoeira demonstration. The students will do a warming-up, perform some basic Capoeira movements and learn to play the Capoeira instruments. A debrief, Q&A session with a summary emphaising the learning points  will conclude the workshop.

Purpose: The role play is specifically designed so that students make the wrong assumptions from their limited observations. Capoeira introduces a strange, but real culture and practises the theoretical models (memory fixation) through physical exercise.

Learning Outcome: To understand the process of entering a new culture. Understand one’s own preconceived ideas and prejudices. Acknowledge the dangers of making ‘snapshot’ conclusions. Become mindful (humble) of complex situations. Flexibility, confidence, courage

Brandon and Lisette in action as King & Queen (left) Geraldo; the musical talent (right)

About Us:
Dr. Brandon Charleston - Brandon is currently the KTP Associate at Birkbeck and the Education and Development Adviser at Raleigh.   Alongside this role, Brandon is an independent trainer, coach and researcher, working with organisations from small NGOs to large corporations, in the areas of leadership and cross-cultural capability.  Over his career Brandon has volunteered on four Raleigh expeditions, led five shorter CSR/ Leadership Development expeditions in Namibia and was lead facilitator for the British Council, Young Global Citizens Programmes in Indonesia and the Philippines.  Brandon started his career as an electrician, and after working in several managerial positions left the utility industry in 1999 to pursue his passions more closely. In 2008, Brandon completed his doctoral studies with the title: Mind the Gap: Exploring the cross-cultural encounters of managers working on overseas development projects for NGOs – the case of Raleigh International in Sabah.  This work was runner-up for the Gunnar Hedlund Award for the best PhD thesis in the world in the field of International Business. (www.brandoncharleston.co.uk)

Formada Lisette Spaargaren – Lisette is co-owner of Capoeira School Semente da Senzala in Haarlem and has been playing Capoeira for ten years and teaching for six years. After completing her VWO at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Haarlem, her BA (hons) Performance (Theatre /Entertainment) Management and her MBA (generic management, including cross cultural management theory) at the University of Leeds she worked for several theatre / dance companies in the UK after which she moved for two years to Brazil to learn Capoeira and work as a language teacher. As she also lived in Germany, is tri-lingual and travelled a year through South America and Asia she has a profound first hand knowledge of what it is to encounter, live and work in other cultures.  For her, culture is a completely underestimated profound force of behaviour. She is intensely passionate about culture knowledge and the culture of Capoeira.  Having participated for ten years at gymnastic championships on Dutch national level, trained Kung Fu for four years until Brown Belt, and danced modern and classical ballet until RAD level intermediate for fifteen years she literally has a large ‘body knowledge’ regarding (creative) movement.

Monitor Geraldo Coutinho – Geraldo is co-owner of Capoeira School Semente da Senzala in Haarlem and has been playing Capoeira for fifteen years and teaching for six years. He has won several Brazilian championships and featured many times in the newspaper and on television.  He is a true representative of the Capoeira Culture due to his Brazilian nationality and personal background. His musical talent within the workshop is paramount.  He has participated and taught many Capoeira workshops in Europe and Brazil. Living in the Netherlands has also taught him the great impact of culture. 


Capoeira & Creativity:

The overall purpose of this innovative and interactive workshop is to discuss what creativity means to the participants, and how they can harness and apply it in their everyday life. This workshop experience will ultimately help them to expand the options open to them when planning projects and build enhanced confidence to play, respond and react in unexpected ways both within and outside their working practices. Capoeira is a very powerful tool to harness creativity. As the movements are never set or choreographed, players need to constantly readjust their movements and strategy to get out of tricky situations. Using Capoeira instruments in the workshop, we will also train the musical creativity of the participants.

Example of one of the exercises in connection with Capoeira:

Be Creative Now! versus Structured Creativity versus Capoeira: The Element of Surprise

The first of the three exercises demonstrates how difficult it is for many people to be creative on demand. In Be Creative Now! participants are forced to think up something on the spot. In Structured Creativity, participants are guided through a structured process using an external stimulus, and are facilitated to create. Movement is a powerful way of exploring creativity. People often limit their movement to everyday activities; walking, cycling, sitting, lifting and perhaps running for the bus. In Capoeira: The Element of surprise participants will experience and explore a full range of body motion and build an understanding of the limits they have placed upon themselves both physically and in their everyday lives. The difference between the three strategies (exercises) will be discussed and can ultimately lead to a small performance.

Liz in action structuring creativity (left) and resulting in a performance (right)

About Us:
Liz Mitchell - Liz Mitchell graduated with a BA Honours Degree in Dance from the University of Leeds in 1999. She has a strong performance background and was Artistic Director of little mishaP pRODUCTIONS from 1998 to 2002, choreographing, writing and directing stage productions for the company. Liz provides Movement Coaching to performers and has been running movement and text based workshops in educational and community settings for over 10 years. Liz has also delivered training to teachers in inner London. Her workshop sessions explore topics from poetry to science and from creativity to the environment.

For information on Formada Lisette Spaargaren and Monitor Geraldo Coutinho - see About Us: in culture section above

Op de volgende locaties hebben wij al workshops verzorgd (of zullen wij verzorgen):