The Body Remembers: Capoeira, Parkinson’s, and the Dance of Resilience

On a humid morning in Rio de Janeiro, a circle forms in the shade of a small community centre. Inside the roda—the traditional capoeira ring—the familiar rhythm of the berimbau pulses through the air. But today, the players are not young athletes or street performers; they are Parkinson’s patients, moving in time with the music, their arms and feet tracing capoeira’s signature dance-fight choreography.

For Nilma Teles de Freitas, an 80-year-old retired teacher, these sessions are more than exercise—they are survival. “Capoeira gives me freedom,” she says, wiping sweat from her brow. “I can have balance and a more comfortable life. I’m no longer afraid to walk.”

This is “Parkinson na Ginga”—a therapeutic capoeira program weaving Afro-Brazilian heritage into healthcare innovation. Founded in 2018 by physical therapist Rosimeire Peixoto, the project offers an unlikely but potent intervention for one of the world’s most debilitating neurological diseases.

Healing Through Heritage

Capoeira, once criminalized under Brazil’s colonial and imperial regimes, is now globally celebrated as part martial art, part cultural ritual. In 2014, UNESCO recognized it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But here, in this modest corner of Rio, capoeira is performing another role: rewiring bodies slowed by Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s is a progressive disorder that affects movement, often leading to tremors, stiffness, and loss of balance. Medications can manage symptoms, but there is no cure. Patients frequently struggle with isolation and depression as their mobility declines.

Peixoto’s approach taps into capoeira’s fundamental dynamics—alternating arm and leg movements, maintaining rhythm, shifting weight, and reacting to a partner’s gestures. “Capoeira demands that you engage both sides of the brain,” she explains. “It’s not just about moving; it’s about connecting, about staying present.”

Her classes blend clinical science with Afro-Brazilian tradition. Participants stretch in circles, sway with ginga (capoeira’s flowing step), and sing the call-and-response songs that have echoed through Brazilian history since the era of slavery. By the end of each session, many are smiling—some even samba to cool down, as laughter replaces tension.

The Science of Movement

There’s growing evidence that dance and rhythmic movement can help delay the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms. Studies show that activities involving balance, coordination, and music can improve gait, reduce falls, and enhance mood.

But capoeira brings something additional to the table: an embedded sense of community and cultural pride. For participants who have watched their independence shrink, this is a space to recover agency—not just physically, but socially.

“Most therapies are solitary,” says Antônio de Azevedo, a former bus driver diagnosed with Parkinson’s six years ago. “Here, we fight together. We joke, we sing, we learn each other’s names. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

More Than Medicine

The program also confronts another silent epidemic: loneliness. In a city where public health systems are strained and elder care is often inadequate, Parkinson na Ginga offers connection as therapy. After class, students gather over coffee and cake, celebrating small victories—a steady step, an unshaken hand.

Brazil’s healthcare system, while universal in theory, often leaves gaps in practice. Public hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed, and movement therapies like this are rarely available through conventional channels. Peixoto runs the program through a mix of personal dedication, local partnerships, and sheer will.

“I demorei a lançar este documentário,” she recently said after presenting a film about the project. “Talvez estivesse à espera desta data simbólica. Nunca acreditei na perfeição, mas sim no impacto.”
(“I took my time to release this documentary. Maybe I was waiting for the right symbolic moment. I never believed in perfection, only in impact.”)

A Different Kind of Fight

In a country grappling with widening inequalities, racial injustice, and a healthcare system under political pressure, Parkinson na Ginga is a small but subversive act. It reclaims capoeira’s legacy—not just as resistance to colonial oppression, but as a present-day tool of radical care.

These patients are not just exercising; they are embodying a tradition that has always been about resilience, community, and movement in the face of constraint. Their bodies, marked by age and illness, still find rhythm in the swing of capoeira. And for now, that swing keeps them standing.