Maculelê () is an Afro-Brazilian dance where a number of people gather in a circle called a roda. Form In the roda, one or more atabaques positioned at the entrance of the circle. Each person brandishes a pair of long sticks, traditionally made from biriba, canzi, or pitia wood from Brazil. The sticks, called grimas, traditionally measure long by thick. As the Maculelê rhythm plays on the atabaque, the people in the circle begin rhythmically striking the sticks together. The leader sings, and the people in the circle respond by singing the chorus of the songs. When the leader gives the signal to begin playing Maculelê, two people enter the circle, and to the rhythm of the atabaque, they begin striking their own and each other's sticks together. On the first three beats, they strike their own sticks together, making expressive and athletic dance movements, and on each fourth beat, they strike each other's respective right-hand stick together. This makes for a dance that looks like "mock stick combat". (Also, traditionally in Maculelê, the players wear dried grass skirts). Maculelê has steps similar to many other Brazilian dances such as "frevo" from Pernanbuco, "Moçambique" from São Paulo, "Cana-verde" from Vassouras-RJ, "Bate-pau" from Mato Grosso, "Tudundun" from Pará among others. Capoeira In some capoeira schools, students perform maculelê using a pair of machetes or facones (facão in Portuguese; plural: facões). These large knives are associated with the tools used by slaves in plantations. The knives spark as they strike in the air, and the sparks along with the sounds of the knives striking one another make this performance particularly impressive. Because a fast moving dance with large knives is dangerous, only very experienced capoeiristas will use knives. Origins The origins of Maculelê are obscure, and there are many stories, theories and beliefs that claim "this is how Maculelê came to be". Here are three: During the slavery era in Brazil, the slaves in the sugarcane plantations would gather and play Maculelê as a game to vent their anger and frustration from being slaves. At this time, machetes were used instead of sticks. Sticks were later incorporated for safety reasons. However, some experts still use machetes. There were two tribes in Brazil: a peaceful tribe, and a warlike pirate one. For stealing supplies and raping this tribe would repeatedly attack the peaceful tribe, who had no way of defending themselves. One day,