Cinézio Feliciano Peçanha – Brazilian Capoeira

Business-Organization: Kilombo Tenonde

Mestre Cobra Mansa is well known for his work in the world of Capoeira. He begun his practice of Capoeira in 1973 with Josias da Silva and Raimundo in the Rio neighborhood of Duque de Caxias. He played Capoeira in the Duque Caxias street rodas and was one of the founders of the Caxias Street Roda with Rogerio Russo and Peixinho de Caxias. (A roda literally means circle, and is the formation of persons that surround a game of the martial dance of Capoeira.) In 1974 Cobra Mansa became a student of Mestre Moraes after he saw Moraes play in the Roda of Central Brazil. Prior to dedicating his life to Capoeira Angola, he worked in photography, as a street vendor in a circus (Circo Picolino) and even served as a police officer for 2 years in the state of Belo Horizonte.

On invitation from the Aussar Auset Society, Cobrinha moved to the United States and opened a school in Washington DC around 1994, which was solely dedicated to the teaching of Capoeira Angola. He later became an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, and then eventually president of the newly formed FICA. In 2004 he left the United States to make his home in Bahia, Salvador, Brazil to create the Kilombo Tenonde. Kilombo Tenonde is an intentional community project focused on the preservation of Afro-Brazilian culture and the practice of Permaculture. The other site is a cultural center at Coutos in the suburb of Salvador. The Kilombo host the annual Permangola event which combines the practice of Capoeira with tropical agroforestry.

Valença – BA
Brasil

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/kilombotenondevalenca/

Workshop(s)

Workshop 1: Permangola – Agro-Forestry and Afro-Brazilian Cultural Resistance in Brazil

Mestre Cobra Mansa is one of the preeminent master teachers of traditional Capoeira Angola, a cultural art that combines music and dance with ritualized combat. This art was preserved by enslaved africans in Brazil as a way to combat oppression. Escaped slaves, together with indigenous people, formed autonomous communities embedded in nature called Quilombos (Kilombos). Today Mestre Cobra Mansa builds on that tradition with Kilombo Tenonde, a permaculture educational project that is also centered around the practice of Capoeira Angola. The Kilombo hosts annual permaculture gatherings called PermAngola which attract hundreds of people from around the world to come and learn about tropical Agro-Forestry and the art of Capoeira and build community together.