Short answers, pulled from the story.
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music, and spirituality. It originated among African slaves in Brazil during the early colonial period, with roots traced to the engolo fighting art of the Cunene region in Angola.
Capoeira was first mentioned in a judicial document in 1789, under the name Capoeiragem, described as "the gravest of crimes." A nationwide ban on the practice followed in 1890 after violent street capoeira spread through Rio de Janeiro.
Mestre Bimba reformed capoeira in the early 1930s, creating capoeira Regional, the first formal teaching method, and a ranking system. Mestre Pastinha founded his school in 1941 to preserve the traditional capoeira Angola style. Together they moved training off the streets into academies and codified the two main styles practiced worldwide today.
The ginga, meaning rocking back and forth, is the fundamental movement in capoeira. It keeps the capoeirista in constant motion to avoid being a still target and uses feints to mislead the opponent, making it the physical embodiment of the capoeira philosophy of malícia.
On the 26th of November 2014, UNESCO granted capoeira special protected status as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The designation recognized the capoeira circle as a place where knowledge is passed through observation and imitation and where the memory of resistance to historical oppression is preserved.
Artur Emídio is likely the first capoeirista to perform abroad, traveling to the Americas and Europe in the 1950s and early 1960s. Jelon Vieira began teaching in New York City in 1975 and founded the Capoeira Foundation in 1976. By 1984, Bira Almeida reported roughly 300 capoeira students in California and 60 in New York.