Workshop with Mestre Cobra Mansa

Tue–Thu 5–7 April 2016, 10:00–13:00

Laboratory Theatre Space

The workshop will be conducted in English

Contact and application

Please email your completed application form by 20 March 2016 to Justyna Rodzińska-Nair at justyna@grotowski-institute.art.pl. Please include in the subject of the email ‘BodyConstitution workshops’ followed by the name of the chosen workshop. The number of places is limited. Applicants will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Fee: 60 EUR

Capoeira Angola is the most traditional style of capoeira, with roots in African ritual. Its first major master was Mestre Pastinha (Vicente Ferreira Pastinha). Capoeira Angola involves slow, smooth, close-to-the ground-movements which include low kicks, head butts and dodges. The two players, or warriors, called Angoleiros, are very close to each other. The music of Capoeira Angola is slower than the one played in Capoeira Regional and its focus is less on aggressive interaction between the players and more on positive energy. 

During the sessions, Mestre Cobra Mansa will focus on:

• the fundamentals of basic movements and elements of defence and attack in Capoeira Angola
• providing an introduction to music, rhythm and ritual
• developing body awareness by improving movement agility, reflexes/reactions and flexibility
• understanding through rhythm and music in traditional capoeira

Mestre Cobra Mansa, also known as Cobrinha and Cobrinha Mansa, is a master of Capoeira Angola, and one of the founders and the guiding light of the International Capoeira Angola Foundation (Fundaçao Internacional de Capoeira de Angola). ICAF/FICA is the largest Capoeira Angola organisation in the world, comprising many local affiliates, chapters and training centres, incorporated as non-profit organisations in the USA. Mestre Cobra Mansa is well known in the world of capoeira. He started capoeira in 1973 with Josias da Silva and Raimundo in Duque de Caxias (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). He played capoeira in street rodas and, with Rogerio Russo and Peixinho de Caxias, founded the Caxias Street Roda. In 1974, Cobra Mansa became a student of Mestre Moraes of the Roda of Central Brazil. Before he dedicated his life to Capoeira Angola, he worked in photography and as a street vendor in a circus (Circo Picolino). In 1979, he moved to Belo Horizonte where he worked as a police officer. In 1981, he went to Salvador where, together with Mestre Moraes, he started an organisation called Grupo Capoeira Angola Pelorinho (GCAP).