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View Full Version : Capoeira, kalenda, and hip-hop at Texas A&M


Joseph Svinth
03-12-2004, 08:30 PM
For those of you living somewhere between Austin and Houston, note Dennis Newsome will be in the neighborhood on April 8, to give a free demonstration of capoeira and kalenda at A&M.

From http://anthropology.tamu.edu/newsome/ :

Mestre Preto Velho (Dennis Newsome) is the second guest artist in the African-American performing arts series Presented in conjunction with Anthropology 489 ("African-American Folklore") and funded by the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, the Departments of Anthropology, English, and Performance Studies and the College of Liberal Arts . The Head Instructor of Os Malandros de Mestre Touro, a San Diego-based school dedicated to the teaching of Capoeira and related martial dance arts, Mestre Newsome is the highest ranking master of Capoeira Angola Sao Bento Grande in North America.

He is also an accomplished professional dancer specializing in contemporary African-American urban traditions. In this role, he was one of the original Scooby Brothers, hip-hop dance performers who in the 1980s were billed as "The Undisputed Champions of Lockin', Poppin', Boogaloo, Modern Robot and Animation." He has served as an artist in residence sponsored by the California Arts Council seven times in the past ten years, and in 2002, he was nominated for a National Heritage Fellowship ("Master of the Traditional Arts") sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mestre Newsome has given lecture-demonstrations in contexts as diverse as the 2003 San Diego Natural History Museums Shona Art Exhibit, the University of California at San Diego, and the American Theater Association (San Francisco). In 1996, he gave a lecture-demonstration on "old school hip hop" at the International African Diaspora Conference held in San Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. His film credits include technical advisor-fight choreographer for Mel Gibson's "Lethal Weapon" (Warner Brothers, 1987).

Blackwood
03-12-2004, 08:44 PM
Dang! How I'd love to be back in Aggieland!

An Aggie in Michigan, Class of '80

Jody Holeton
03-12-2004, 10:18 PM
What's an Aggie?

Blackwood
03-13-2004, 05:58 AM
Some one who is or was a student at Texas A&M University is referred to as an Aggie. More generically it is used to refer to students at Morrel (SP?) Land Grant colleges, many with the A&M initials in their names.

Texas A&M is the most famous but there is also
Prairie View A&M
Oklahoma A&M
Florida A&M
Alabama A&M
Penn State
Michigan State

More than you wanted to know, isn't it?

Gig'em, Aggies!

G. Zepeda
03-13-2004, 08:56 AM
"Raised on steaks, all smothered in butter...
Big ol' boots, and a Lone Star stutter,
Tell me, what the hell is an Aggie anyways?
What the hell is an aggie anyway?"

joe yang
03-13-2004, 09:43 AM
A&M, Agriculture and Minning, hence "aggie".

Blackwood
03-13-2004, 03:45 PM
Agricultural and Mechanical, actually. Huge Ag College and huge engineering departments. And Texas A&M is the largest single source of commissioned officers for the US Military.

Senjojutsu
03-13-2004, 04:30 PM
Forgive this Yankee from north of the Mason-Dixon line - BUT - isn't there a homegrown industry in the great state of Texas of creating jokes dedicated to illustrate via humor HOW DENSE TEXAS AGGIES ARE???
:p

Q: Why does an Aggie graduate put his/her diploma on the dashboard?
A: So he can park in the handicapped spots.

Q: Why do the Aggies bring sandpaper to the desert ?
A: They use it as a map ...

A group of Aggies were driving down the highway to Disneyland when they saw a sign that said "DISNEYLAND LEFT".   After thinking for a minute, they all said to themselves "oh well!" and turned around and drove home.

Q: If an Aggie and a brunette are tossed off a building, who hits the ground first?
A: The brunette. The Aggie has to stop to ask for directions.

Q: Why did the Aggie scale the glass wall?
A: To see what was on the other side.

Derek has a half-brother, Gordon, who is about five years old. One Sunday after church, they were visiting with their pastor. The pastor asked the boy, "Gordon, when you grow up, do you want to go to Texas A&M like your brother?"
Gordon answered, "No sir. I want to go to college."
:D

nicojo
03-13-2004, 05:30 PM
Texas A&M is the largest single source of commissioned officers for the US Military. I had never heard this before, that's interesting. A relative of mine went there and did rotc, I think, but his son is in marine officer's training. Sorry about my inability to say where he is at.

Colorado State University is also a land-grant college but dropped the A&M label years ago, but some still call themselves aggies. Actually, I think all land-grant schools were A&M, University of Wyoming, Washington State University and Arizona State U. are some others.

edited to say: Oh yeah, Capoeira is awesome. There, we are back on thread. :)

Blackwood
03-13-2004, 07:40 PM
But, do you know what you call an Aggie 5 years after graduation?

Boss!

Yeah, lots of Aggie jokes out there. But do you have any idea how much Jello would pay to have that kind of advertising?

The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets has over 2000 members, who are in uniform all day every day. It is the only school in the nation where you can obtain a commission in every one of the services, including the Coast Guard. I attended on a full Navy scholarship, and served six years on active duty upon graduation.

Jody Holeton
03-13-2004, 09:38 PM
Hey Mark,

If I graduated from Oakland University am I called an Aggie?

It used to be part of MSU....