Capoeira Mandinga
Afro-Brazilian capoeira
Capoeira Mandinga is the name of a Capoeira group that has existed in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1984, when Mestre Marcelo Pereira started it under the name of Senzala Grande (The name was changed in 1995). Capoeira Mandinga also has a life as a nonprofit organization called the Capoeira Institute and as a performing arts group called Brazil Dance Revue. The organization’s capoeira lineage represents one of the most elite in the capoeira world today. However, they teach students to appreciate and respect all styles and systems as their method is a mixture of all methods. They incorporate into their training different aspects of capoeira Regional, Angola, Miudinho, Contemporânea and their own system of capoeira Maneira where they emphasize body expression with capoeira-related movements. Capoeira Mandinga is committed to quality and therefore continue to study and research capoeira to present it to their students at its highest level.
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian form that encompasses martial arts, percussion, dance and song.
As a grantee in ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program in 2009, Capoeira Mandinga received a grant for “Batizado and Troca de Cordoes,” a culminating event for the group. Under the direction of Mestre Marcelo Pereira, over 100 students, their family and supporters will participate in workshops, a graduation ceremony for students who have achieved levels of skill in their studies with a master artist, and performances. Joining the community will be guest master artists from Brazil and other parts of the Unitied States.