thumb|right|A capoeira roda in [[Farroupilha Park, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007)]]
Roda (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔdɐ] - wheel or circle) is the circular formation within which participants perform diverse African and Afro-Brazilian dance and music. Common examples of these art forms are capoeira (including maculelê), engolo, and samba in the subgenres de roda and pagode. By extension, the participants may refer to events featuring those performances as a roda, as in "We will have a roda next Saturday." Sometimes, the name of the art can follow the name of the roda event, such as in "Last week's roda de samba was fun!"
Part of the etiquette of the roda means that the people in it should try to keep the roda circular and fill in any "gaps" that may appear if someone leaves the formation; in other words, the people should be evenly distributed in the circumference of the roda, especially if there are not many people in it. Another important etiquette is giving energy to the people performing, since making all participants feel included, by clapping, singing, performing, and supporting each other, is essential in the community-building that a roda allows.
Capoeira circle
Roda is extremely important for capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts and dance form, because it is the main formation of this martial art and shows spectators the full involvement of the participants and musicians, as well as the shared knowledge between them. It is a way of showcasing the capoeira community with each member complementing each other and understanding, by observing roda members, how they can also add to their own capoeira practice in the process, a constant learning experience.
In the circular formation of capoeira, roles are interchangeable: spectators can become participants, participants can become musicians, and musicians can become spectators, to name a few variations of roles. The soloist Mestre de Capoeira leads, with observers responding collectively, and roles shift throughout the game—a tradition found in Bantu and Yoruba ethnic groups.
thumb|252x252px|Roda de Capoeira - Capoeira Circle
The people who form the roda will take turns to perform inside the circle. Some of the people in the roda may be mere spectators, in the sense that they will not go inside the circle, but they are expected to contribute to the roda by at least clapping and singing. This can be compared to other art forms, such as tap dancing, where participants will form a circle and take turns performing inside the circle.
True learning in capoeira takes place within the player interaction during the roda, rather than in structured instruction sessions.
In the roda, participants learn not only moves and kicks but also strategies applicable in the game itself and in the broader "game" of life.
Circle as a physical concept
One of the most important points of the circle is to create a physical boundary between the external world and the participants, musicians, and spectators of a roda. By creating this boundary, no people outside the circle could join the capoeira game, unless allowed by the capoeiristas. This matters because capoeira started in a context of slavery in Brazil, being practiced by enslaved people mostly in secret and as a way to maintain their African roots through cultural manifestations in dance and music forms, as well as being ready for possible conflicts against the colonizers by practicing a martial art. After abolition in Brazil, capoeira was still practiced in secrecy for decades, since the Brazilian authorities prohibited any form of cultural manifestations related to African culture and Afro-Brazilian culture, including capoeira, samba, and candomblé'.
The most famous implementations of maculelê in the circular formation of capoeira are the implementation of some steps using sticks as a type of warming-up exercise. In some rodas de capoeira, maculelê can also be included in an actual capoeira performance as an additional resource or as a special kind of game between the participants.
The practice of engolo, as documented by Neves e Sousa in the 1950s, involves a circle of singing participants and potential combatants. Sometimes, this circle is overseen by a kimbanda, a ritual specialist. The game starts with clapping and call-and-response songs, some of them featuring humming instead of lyrics.
In engolo games documented in the 2010s, players often initiate the engolo circle by challenging others. In such cases, they enthusiastically leap into the circle, showcasing agile movements and occasional shouts while awaiting someone to join and engage in the play. They can also select a specific individual to join them by using kicks or simulated kicks.
Samba Circle
There are two main types of samba known as being performed in a roda: the samba de roda, from Recôncavo Baiano, and the roda de samba, from Rio de Janeiro. There are a few differences in those two styles, a consequence of the different ways samba developed in those two places. The most significant one is the nomenclature used for the people who perform samba, known as sambistas in Rio de Janeiro and called sambadeiros and sambadeiras in Recôncavo Baiano. Academics often use these different nomenclatures as a way for the readers to identify which samba they are talking about. There is also a subgenre of samba performed in the roda formation, the pagode.
When samba is performed in a roda, it is intrinsically connected to the desire of the samba dancers and musicians to express their pride in their own cultural traditions, usually related to African roots, and benefit emotionally, physically, and spiritually from the practice of a roda.
In the Samba de Roda, the circular formation is important to practice values of community and belonging, practiced in Recôncavo Baiano since the colonial period by Afro-Brazilians and Africans. Even though samba de roda is not entirely African, with thumb|299x299px|Samba de Roda in Recôncavo Baianocultural elements from Portuguese and Indigenous cultures, the roda songs usually focus on the daily lives of Afro-Brazilians, as a way for them to find the values mentioned above of community and belonging.
The formation of samba in a roda creates a space that allows a constant interaction between the sambistas and the spectators. Many times, as well as in capoeira, spectators would become dancers or musicians. This type of formation allowed relationships to be built between sambistas and the public, with a sense of belonging for both groups. The roda could constantly be organized around a table or in the kitchen of someone's house, uniting friends and family to have fun and feel at home, even if the house was not theirs.
Roda is already present in pagode because of the surprising word it derived from: pagoda, a type of tower common in Asian Buddhist temples, related to the Noble Eightfold Path. This connection exists because it is common to walk around a pagoda in circles with other people, forming a similar formation as in the roda de pagode. The similarities of pagode with Buddhism end there, since the context in which pagode was created, in Brazilian favelas, and persecuted by authorities, is much more connected to Brazilian history and culture.