Full schedule for the Encounter and dance workshops...

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Masters in Attendance for the Encounter

Grand Mestre João Grande was born in 1933 in Itagi, Bahia. Grand Mestre Pastinha accepted João as a student at age 20, and made him a master in 1968. After Grand Mestre Pastinha passed in 1981, Grand Mestre João Grande stopped playing Capoeira. Persuaded by Mestre Moraes he returned in the mid-1980's. In 1989 Jelon Vieira invited him to the U.S. and he returned in 1990 to present Capoeira Angola in Atlanta and New York; he has been teaching in New York ever since. He received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Upsala College in 1995, and the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001.

 

Mestre Pé de Chumbo, born in 1964 in Floresta Azul, Bahia, began practicing Capoeira at age 10. In 1981, he began training with Grand Mestres João Grande and Grand Mestre João Pequeno, who graduated him as a mestre. Mestre Pé de Chumbo continues to remain close to Grand Mestre João Pequeno (93 yrs old) and is committed to teaching the traditional Capoeira he learned under this great Capoeira Mestre. He has established schools in Brazil, Europe, Mexico, the U.S. and in Germany, where he now resides.

 

Mestre Laércio dos Anjos Borges was born in Salvador, Bahia, in 1966, and started learning Capoeira in 1978. Mestre Laércio is a founding member of the Grupo Filhos de Angola (1984) and the Associação Brasileira de Capoeira Angola (1991). He currently lives and teaches in Berlin and gives workshops throughout Europe. He is keenly dedicated to teaching the art, knowledge, philosophy and awareness of Capoeira Angola in Europe in a dynamic manner.

 

Mestre Themba Mashama was born and raised in San Francisco and has been in Oakland since 1975, where he founded the Group Capoeira Ngola Preto Velho. Mestre Themba has studied the traditional lineages of Capoeira for 30 years. He began his studies in Capoeira in 1979 with Mestre Acordeon and soon after went to Brazil to study Capoeira where he immersed himself in the traditional art of Capoeira Ngola. Mestre Themba has the honor of being the first non-Brazilian to be granted the title of Contra-Mestre of Capoeira Ngola in the world.

 

Mestre Amen Santo, born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, is a mestre of Capoeira and master drummer and dance teacher. He began Capoeira with Mestres Waldemar da Paixão and Mestre Avila. In 1989 he founded the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center and the Capoeira Batuque Academy, in Los Angeles. He has been honored in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and as a pioneer by the World Sokeship Council.

 

Mestre Efraim Silva was born in 1964, in Guaruja, São Paulo. He learned Capoeira under Mestres Trindade and Humberto. He moved to the U.S. in 1989 and received a Master of Capoeira certificate from the São Paulo Federation of Capoeira in 1994. He teaches at Yale among other schools and is the Artistic Director of Afro-Brazilian Performing Arts of CT and Ginga Brasileira Dance Company.

 

Contra-Mestre Iuri Santos grew up immersed in the rich Afro-Brazilian culture of Salvador, Bahia, where he learned the art of Capoeira Angola. In 1998, he moved to Indiana and founded North Star Capoeira. Iuri teaches Capoeira at Indiana University, IUPUI, in Bloomington and in Indianapolis.

 

Contra-Mestre Mario Axé was born in Brazil. Afro-Brazilian percussion, dance, and singing, were a central part of his early years. At 16 he became a professional dancer and in 1990 he was invited to dance with the great Wuppertal Dance Theater in Germany. On his way there he stopped in New York where he met Mestre João Grande and began a new chapter of his life; for the past 20 years he has been part of Capoeira Angola Center of Mestre João Grande.

 

Registration for the Enocunter

 

Please send email to deraldof@hotmail.com with the following information:

Name, phone number, email address, and which days you are registering.

Payment

By paypall: to deraldof@hotmail.com

By check:
Payable to Brazilian Cultural Center of New England or
Deraldo Ferreira
P.O. Box 161
Somerville, MA 02143