Whether you are a beginner or have years of experience, you will enjoy learning from Contra-Mestre Bomba.
Classes are every Sunday from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm at BloomBars.
Suggested Donation: $10 for youth. $15 for adults.
No prior experience is necessary. Beginners should wear loose fitting clothing and light footwear; advanced capoeiristas should wear traditional white capoeira pants and a t-shirt.
About Capoeira:
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art disguised as a dance and performed to musical instruments and traditional Brazilian songs. It is comprised of specific offensive and defensive movements and, unlike in other martial arts, the participant is constantly in motion because of the basic movement, the ginga.
The movements also consist of positions on the ground, kicks, sweeps and acrobatics. Some believe that capoeira originated in Africa, others say that it was formed in Brazil. The regional style of capoeira originated in the 1930s in Brazil and, unlike capoeira angola, is usually practiced to a quicker beat and kicks are performed in an upright and aggressive style.
About the Instructor:
Contra-Mestre Bomba was born in Bahia, Brazil, and has practiced capoeira for twenty-eight years. He became interested in capoeira at the age of ten after he saw his father, a well known capoeirista, fighting in a roda. Because his mother prohibited him from practicing capoeira, which at the time was seen as an outlaw fringe activity, Bomba initially trained in secret under Mestre Buguelo of Grupo Cativeiro in Bahia in 1980.
He later moved to Grupo Esquiva where he trained under Mestre Coentro, and in 1985 joined his current group, Barro Vermelho, where he has trained under Mestre Benivaldo. Bomba attained the rank of Professor, and was later promoted to Contra-Mestre.
Prior to his 2008 arrival in Washington, D.C., Contra-Mestre Bomba taught capoeira in Bahia, Brazil for seventeen years to both Brazilians and non-Brazilians. In addition to teaching adults, he was actively involved in his community teaching capoeira to young children.
In Brazil he has worked with Projeto Axé and Projeto IBG and most recently trained youth at the community organization, Clube Amazonas, where he lived at the Sofitel in Salvador, Bahia.
