The building that houses the Solar do Unhão restaurant was once the site of horrible slave quarters. Today, it is a restaurant and stage that hosts a Bahian folklore show and Capoeira performance. Inside were tables surrounding the stage. Several tables had an obstructive view due to the columns. Unfortunately, the bus from my hotel was the last of our tour group's three busloads to arrive, so we had to settle for an obstructed view. We had a buffet of Bahian food and then settled in for the show.

The show began with dancers in elaborate costumes telling a story through dance and drums. There was a guy dancing with fire. There was even one topless girl who came out and performed a dance.

The second half of the show consisted of a Capoeira performance. Capoeira is a form of martial arts and dance that began in Bahia during the slavery days. The slaves disguised the martial arts as dance to avoid being punished by slave owners. The guys who performed for us that evening displayed their flexibility and balance to the rhythms of the drummers. The performers did flips, kicks, and balancing acts on one hand or their head. However, the real show began when one of the percussionists began to tap out a rhythm on the berimbau. The berimbau is an instrument that looks like the bow of a bow and arrow. The musician taps the string with a stick to make music. The berimbau solo seemed to signal the start of the Capoeira sparring. The performers would begin to kick and punch at each other and then duck or jump to get out of the way of their opponent's attack. Although no contact was made, the fighters were within inches of each other throwing full power punches and kicks. All this was going on while the drummers were drumming like mad and working up a sweat. When the tempo of the rhythms reached a climax, two fighters began a kick, duck, and jump sequence that was so fast that they looked like a blur. If either of the two performers didn't jump or duck at the correct time, they would probably end up in the hospital. The show was amazing!

The show ended with the performers bringing members of the audience on stage to dance. The object of the dance was to see how low you could go to the floor while shaking your body to the rhythm of the drums. One of the females pulled me onstage. Fortunately, the drumming stopped before I had a chance to embarrass myself. With that, our dinner show ended. I had enjoyed every minute of the performances we witnessed that evening.