Mestre Acordeon (1943-Salvador/Bahia) has been and continues to be a
major player in the growth of the art form of capoeira in his native country
of Brazil, in the United States, and in Europe. His international reputation
as a charismatic teacher, performer, scholar, organizer, and author is built
upon nearly forty years of active practice, as well as extensive research
into the origins, traditions, political connotations, and contemporary trends
of capoeira.
As one of only ten masters graduated by the legendary Mestre Bimba
(1889-1974), Acordeon began teaching in 1959. In the course of his career,
Acordeon has established numerous schools of capoeira, including: Associação
Quilombos (Salvador, Brazil - 1962), Associação K–poeira (São Paulo, Brazil -
1968), Associação Camará (Bahia, Brazil - 1972), Associação Fonte do Gravatá
(São Paulo, Brazil - 1979), World Capoeira Association (based in
California,USA - 1983), and Capoeira–Bahia Association (California, USA -
1983) which became the United Capoeira Association in 1994.
In 1976, Acordeon founded the ensemble "Corpo Santo," which was invited
to perform African-Brazilian music and dance in the United States in 1978.
Since then, guided by the goal of exposing and promoting the art of capoeira,
this group has performed hundreds of shows coast to coast, has given
lecture-demonstrations, held residencies at various institutions, and has
presented special concerts at universities, elementary schools, private
parties, and other large-scale public events.
As part of his commitment to teaching and promotion of capoeira, Mestre
Acordeon has organized many single and recurring cultural events. Some of
these include the Midwest Capoeira Conference, the First International
Capoeira Encounter, the San Francisco Carnaval Balls, and Brazilian Cultural
Week at Stanford University. He has also arranged 9 cultural trips to
Brazil, 20 capoeira induction rituals (batizados), capoeira tournaments, and
numerous symposia on the study of capoeira and its related universe.
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