Maculele is a Brazilian dance performed to the rhythm of the atabaque drum. The origins of the maculae are still uncertain but it is a popular performance in Capoeira rodas. Traditionally dressed in a dried-grass skirt, each participant or dancer carries a pair of wooden sticks about 24 inches long. During the dance they strike the sticks together one against the other and against those of other dancers. The leader sings and the people in the circle respond by singing the chorus of the songs. On the first three beats they strike their own sticks together making expressive and athletic dance movements while on each fourth beat, they strike each other's respective right-hand stick together. This makes a dance that looks like "mock stick combat."