Played by Mestre Virgulinho

Iúna is an old viola guitar rhythm used in the sambas of the Recôncavo, Bahia. Bimba, himself an accomplished master of the viola de samba, brought iuna into capoeira as a rhythm on the berimbau. He said that was an imitation of the Iúna bird’s song – of the male calling and the female responding. A medium-paced and graceful game, it is played traditionally by “formados” (graduated students) at the end of the roda. Throws (baloes), in which partners throw each other and must land on their feet, are inserted within the game.

Original Artilce