Oi, capoeiristas!
Our weekday capoeira classes now meet on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 7:15pm in the aerobics room on the 2nd floor of Bellefield Hall. Saturday classes meet as usual at 11:45am at BYS Yoga on the South Side. Come celebrate the changing of the seasons by recommitting to capoeira this fall. See you there!
Oi, capoeiristas!
This weekend I traveled to Atlantic City, NJ for a workshop with Contra Mestre Coquinho of Unção Capoeira Seattle, hosted by Monitor Graveto. Friday night we had a workshop with Coquinho at the academy, and then on Saturday, we moved to the beach for a roda on the Jersey Shore. Outdoor rodas (or capoeira “circles”) are one of the great things about practicing capoeira in the summer. Enjoy!
Earlier this month, Unção Capoeira Pittsburgh hosted Monitor Dentista and Aranha, two capoeiristas from Grupo Unidade Capoeira (Ohio), for three days of awesome workshops. Several Unção capoeiristas came out for the event, as well as capoeira students from other groups in the surrounding area. Everyone worked hard and had a great time! Many thanks to Monitor Dentista & Aranha for their presence. Workshops such as these are a great chance for capoeiristas who practice different styles of the art to come together and learn from one another, on the mat and in the roda. Please enjoy these pictures from the event. Axé!
More about Monitor Dentista:
“Monitor Dentista has been practicing Capoeira for over 10 years. Dentista has been involved in the martial arts since the age of 8. He began training Capoeira at the age of 24. Monitor Dentista belongs to ASCAB, the Associacao Santista de Capoeira Areia Branca as it is known in Brazil but in the U.S. It is known as the American Society of Capoeira and the Arts of Brazil based in Philadelphia, PA led by Mestre Doutor. 2010, Dentista was made ‘Monitor’ by Mestre Doutor, with other mestres and higher-ups present. In the ASCAB system the title ‘Monitor’ is higher than Professor and is fours away from Mestre. So close and yet so far.
His passion for capoeira has led him to great accomplishments including the opening of his own capoeira academy with schools located throughout Ohio and Alabama. He has given countless workshops, demonstrations and discussions on capoeira in the United States. He also holds an annual capoeira tournament at the Arnold Classic, the second largest fitness event in the United States, in Columbus, Ohio. His mission is to continue to use capoeira to community-build and spread the knowledge of its Afro-Brazilian roots. Monitor Dentista founded and currently runs Grupo Unidade Capoeira in Cleveland, Ohio where he has a group of students devoted to his exciting methods of teaching and enthusiastic personality.”
Earlier this month, Unção Capoeira Pittsburgh taught a series of workshops to Pittsburgh-area kids for the YMCA International Festival. For the festival, YMCA day-campers learned about a variety of cultures from around the world. Unção represented Brazil for the event and taught participants about the history of capoeira and how to do a number of capoeira movements. If you know of a local community organization that would like to schedule a workshop or demonstration with Unção, please let us know by emailing capoeirapittsburgh@gmail.com.
Each Spring, Unção Capoeira Pittsburgh performs at the University of Pittsburgh Latin American and Caribbean Festival and at the “Brazil Nuts” Brazilian Festival. Below are some pictures from our recent performances at these events that illustrate some of the movements of capoeira and of the dances of maculele, coco de roda, and puxada de rede.
Capoeira:
Capoeira solos:
Maculele:
Coco de roda:
Puxada de rede:
Unção Capoeira Pittsburgh currently offers classes in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira in the Oakland and South Side neighborhoods. Classes are designed for people of all ages and all skill levels, and focus on the fighting, acrobatic, and musical aspects of the art. In a typical class, students will practice esquivas or escapes from attacks; attacks like kicks and strikes, and floreios or acrobatics like flips, floor movements, and cartwheels, as well as learn to play musical instruments like the berimbau–pictured on the home page of our blog–and to sing songs in Portuguese. After training individual movements alone and in partners, class will often end with a roda or circle, where students will put into practice all of the movements they have practiced in improvised games of capoeira. Capoeira training will also include dances like the maculele and coco de roda, pictured in some of our posts on Unção Media. For information on current class times, locations, and pricing, please see the right side of our home page.
Capoeira game at the U. of Pittsburgh Brazilian Festival, Spring 2011
Welcome to the website of Unção Capoeira Pittsburgh! Here, you’ll be able to get all the information you need about capoeira classes in Pittsburgh and about the history of capoeira more broadly. Please click on the “About” link at the top of our home page for more information on our group, and feel free to contact us at capoeirapittsburgh@gmail.com with any questions or comments.
