ginga and surfing

this video courtesy of goiabada, with shots of jeronimo vargas of brazil surfing in mexico i believe. this video brought forth a bunch of thoughts about the brazilian style of surfing versus the one in peru. let's just say that it projects ginga and creativity versus something else that is more restrained and, perhaps, less expressive. plenty has been written about ginga as a concept in brazilian culture, and it's presence in soccer, but fewer people recognize that it comes from capoeira, which in my mind is the best starting point to appreciate vast swaths of brazilian culture and get an idea as to why brazil is so different than the rest of latin america. jeronimo tem dende! i surfed with a cearense on wednesday who had the relaxed demeanor of a malandro even on big eight foot faces -- out for a cruise and pulling off elegant, effortless turns... great stuff to watch. i also think ginga is what is going to push brazilian surfers further up the ranks of the global surf tour, a trend that has judges and other pros on their heels.

Jeronimo Vargas ...Nachos y Cerveza 2008 from Jeronimo Vargas on Vimeo.