Roda is the circular formation within which participants perform in any of several African and Afro-Brazilian dance art forms, such as engolo, capoeira, maculelĂȘ and samba de roda. By extension, the whole event may be called a roda.
A capoeira roda in Farroupilha Park, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007)
Engolo circle in Angola, 2010.
N'golo is a traditional Bantu martial art and game from Angola, that combines elements of combat and dance, performed in a circle accompanied by music and singing. It is known as the forerunner of capoeira.
Negros in the cellar of a slave boat, by Johann Moritz Rugendas.
The Old Plantation, Angolan stick dance to banjo, South Carolina, 1780s
San Salvador, Bahia, between 1822 and 1824, by Rugendas
Negroes fighting, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, c. 1824, by Augustus Earle.