OBRIGADO!!!
To all who made this 5th annual Batizado and week-long anniversary celebration
a memorable event.
The Batizado Ceremony and Performance at Lehman College, was simply amazing: from Samba de Roda, to Tap Dancing to the Iuna rhythm played by the berimbau, to Mestre Bimba’s sequences adapted to Samba and an emotional rank ceremony, the event was simply amazing and exceeded all expectations. Close to 150 capoeiristas were on stage during the Batizado event, with close to 300 in audience. Performing pieces by ACBX students with guests artists were very well received by audience and families!
Congratulations to all the students who moved up in rank!
In addition to the culminating Batizado, we had a great week of events- here are some highlights!
- Workshops with Mestrandos Peixe-Cru (Sao Paulo) and Piriquito Verde (Curitiba) for adults and kids were held Thursday-Saturday at The New School for Leadership and The Arts (MS 244). Over 250 students took part in these workshops. The workshops were also attended by ABADA students from 10 different countries! including Japan, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Slovakia, among others. This allowed for an incredible cultural exchange with our students, right here, in The Bronx!
- An inspiring GIRLS’ Roda & discussion with accomplished Prof. Juma (Rio de Janeiro) and other highly regarded female capoeiristas such as Prof. Yara (DC) and Instrutora Sereia (AZ). In it’s second year, this female-only event which aims to build confidence and self-esteem among young girls, grew in attendance by 200%!
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Panel discussion with high ranked capoeiristas and young students, centered around the importance of building community (here, as well as within the ABADA Capoeira community worldwide) and experiencing other cultures through the opportunities capoeira can provide.
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CANTABADA on Saturday evening was full of axe, with guest of honor, Mestre Joao Grande, originally from Bahia and a direct student of Mestre Pastinha. Mestre Joao Grande, who is over 90 years of age, is a living legend who still practices capoeira angola, the original form of capoeira and runs the Capoeira Angola Center of NY. His presence was a great experience for our younger generations. Other special guests included Professores Pelezinho (Luxembourg), Pretinho, Gordinho, Perninha (Rio de Janeiro).
- Over 300 pieces of capoeira clothing were collected through our clothes drive for the week, and sent to capoeiristas in Rio de Janeiro. The clothes were distributed by Mestre Cobra and Prof. Juma, as part of their pro-social project “Fazer fazendo, faço aprendendo!”
- Hispanic Cable Network HITN covered the week of events and will be creating a series of vignettes spots about the art of Capoeira to run as interstitials on the network for a period of time this year.
Thank you to all for believing in Capoeira and in ABADA-Capoeira Bronx!
– Prof Côco and Gda. Franjinha
– Prof Côco and Gda. Franjinha
Special Thanks to our Batizado 2015 Sponsors & Supporters!
Video Recap
Here’s a quick recap video of the week of events:
Photos
View a selection of photos from the week of events:
