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 Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

Machado and Vieira, both natives of

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, came to

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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 Ubirajara (Bira) Guimarães Almeida (born 1943), known as Mestre Acordeon, is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, and a '' mestre'' of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. His international reputation as a teacher, performer, musician, organiz ...

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. Offi ...

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''. Award-winning playwright and poet

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...

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 Warrington W. Hudlin Jr. (born July 16, 1952) is an American film director, producer, and actor. Early life Hudlin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, the son of Helen (née Cason), a teacher, and Warrington W. Hudlin Sr., an insurance exec ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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, novelist, dancer, and cultural critic. Education and career Browning received her B.A. in comparative literature from Yale University in 1983, spent a year ...

, said that the cause of death was

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

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