Noa & Sapinha

Mestre Noa and Professora sapinha

"Sister! It says it all"

Noa and Sapinha's relationship is not just working relationship. As sisters they are very close and have lots of heart-to-heart talks.

Mestre Noa started training capoeira more than 20 years ago. Back then in Israel, it was a new sport, and not a lot of people heard about it, many less understood it. To them it looked like a strange dance with unusual music and exotic rhythms.

Noa's parents were not too thrilled about her new hobby. Raising four daughters, there was limited time for their daughter's obsession with capoeira. Yael – Sapinha, Noa's younger sister, watched her train but wasn't eager to join her.

Сапинья

Профессора

"I was 10 years old when my older sister was caught into Mestre Edan's nets (double meaning) and introduced us to the mysterious world of capoeira. I always watched her train. One day as she was training at home, she showed me a few moves that I was able to easily mimic. This is when Noa told me she thought that I could train capoeira too".

Ноа

Местра

"My parents didn't want Sapinha to train. It was enough for them to have one daughter already obsessed with it. But I personally thought it would be really good for Sapinha – her moves were so natural. I was trying to come up with a way to get her to come to class with me, so I asked her to help me out in classes as my assistant. I said I would pay her 80 shekels per month (about $20 – author's note). And she of course agreed."

This is how Sapinha became Noa's student. She helped her with the kids classes while training at the same time. She learned the moves, how to play the instruments and sing in a roda. Everything was going smooth and easy for her. Noa was excited, it meant a lot to her that her younger sister was becoming a part of something so important to her, and Sapinha was getting good at it. Seeing how Noa took care of her sister and spent a lot of time with her, their parents eventually realized there was nothing to worry about, and they became supportive of her training.

"I followed Noa everywhere – trainings, acrobatics classes, adult rodas, hang outs with friends. Noa was
spending a lot of time training with me, she pushed me to train really hard, and I was improving day by
day."

"I used every opportunity I had to teach Sapinha. When she first started training, we practiced acrobatic
movements on our way home from class. For about 30 minutes (that's how long it took) we practiced
different moves (flips for example) and I helped her with them. That's how we trained."

The path in capoeira for Sapinha wasn't the norm. Being Noa's assistant, she started teaching before she actually started training. But this experience helped her open her own group. Then she started training with her sister at Mestre Edan's school. In addition to training she also helped out with organizing the demos and capoeira shows. Noa says she was very successful.

"Sapinha is very musically talented. She is a real master of percussion and she helps us a lot with it. Sapinha feels the rhythm and plays batucada, which I don't do anymore. I'm proud of all her achievements. She is part of my team, so her success is my success as well. She and I are very different, she is more energetic and cheerful, so there is a lot for me to learn from her."

"Even though I have a lot of experience in teaching, sometimes I could overlook things that are important, and Sapinha helps me see them. She is younger and she understands the new generation better than me. With her different perspective on things, she helps me understand what needs to be changed."

Sapinha is a mature and independent capoeirista now, but she still looks up to Noa and really admires her.

"She is always going to be my teacher, the best capoeirista! Did you see her in a roda? She is so fast – I don't know how she can do twenty moves in 5 seconds. And she's like this in everything. While I'm still doing a warm up before our class, Noa is already finishing her training."

Unlike Neve and his older brother Cueca (student and trainer), or Ivan and Gaola, who have always done things together, Sapinha and Noa basically run their own family business.

But Noa and Sapinha's relationship is not just working relationship. As sisters they are very close and have lots of conversations, discussions, and heart-to- heart talks. They support each other overcoming any difficulties, they share challenges and achievements, and, of course, they have fun together.

Сапинья

Професора

"Yes, we are a team and we always help each other. For example, Noa makes lunch for me so I can eat before my classes. I still come to Mestre Edan's and Noa's classes to see how they teach."

Ноа

Местра

"Come to our classes? I'd say, to our home, to have delicious dinner! But in fact, it's all true. In capoeira we are colleagues, she is a teacher in our school. We work together, she helps a lot in classes, but also in organizing big capoeira events, demos, etc."

Credits: Tatyana Ermolaeva; Alexandra Safonova; Uri Ishay; Jogo Bonito archive