RIO DE JANEIRO — Nilma Teles de Freitas, an 80-year-old retired teacher in Brazil who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease more than a decade ago, says she used to fall over all the time.

That changed after she began attending a capoeira class in downtown Rio de Janeiro especially designed for people with the neurodegenerative illness.

Capoeira is a movement practice that originated within the large enslaved communities in Brazil, where nearly 5 million kidnapped Africans disembarked during the transatlantic slave trade that started in the 16th century.

It is considered both a martial art and a dance, combining ritual, exercise, spirituality and music.

“Capoeira gives me freedom to work on my body — what I can do, what I can’t do — so I can have balance and a more comfortable life,”

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