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Rochester Capoeira Center
Afro-Brazilian Art of Defense, Dance and Resistance
Rochester Capoeira Center
Afro-Brazilian Art of Defense, Dance and Resistance
About
Classes
Movements, music, and Afro-Brazilian culture and history make capoeira classes unique and challenging. There is grace, beauty, risk, reward, and danger. Capoeira can be played by everyone; strength and flexibility are not required - only a desire to learn! Learn the basics while developing strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, rhythm, agility, reflexes, endurance... and so much more. Capoeira is good for mind, body and spirit.
TIME:
Mondays, 6:30-7:15pm
Class will start and end promptly on time, so please arrive a few minutes early.
LOCATION:
Aerial Arts of Rochester @ University Business Center
1046 University Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
*Please be aware that masks are required while inside of the facility. This means during class too.
ATTIRE:
Wear pants you can move comfortably in and be prepared to go barefoot. Bring water and a locker lock if you’d like to secure your items.
REGISTRATION/MEMBERSHIP:
All classes require advance enrollment as they are limited in class size. Classes will be cancelled if there are less than 3 participants. You will be notified via email, so make sure that your notifications are turned on.
Capoeira classes are included in the Ground/Fitness class schedule at Aerial Arts. To sign up please select one of the following:
Wellness Membership - $60 per month (this option allows you to take unlimited Ground/Fitness classes)
Single Class - $16 per class
We also recommend downloading the Aerial Arts of Rochester app, to enroll in your individual class sessions each week. It makes is easy to keep track of everything in your account.
This is a great opportunity to try something new and be part of a welcoming community, while staying connected through mindful movement and music. We look forward to seeing you!
What is Capoeira?
Capoeira is a fitness and wellness practice that develops the whole body through a playful martial art hidden in flowing, dancelike movements with acrobatics and music. It was created by Africans and Indigenous peoples enslaved in Brazil as self-defense disguised in dance. Capoeira is played as a game between two capoeiristas (practitioners) inside of a roda (circle) of spectators, other capoeira players, and a bateria (band) of musicians.
This beautiful and strong martial art came to be in the mid 1500s, when people were torn from Africa and shipped to the newly discovered Americas and enslaved. Under the watchful eye of a slave owner, capoeira appeared as a harmless dance and music. After the abolition of slavery in 1888, capoeira survived in the poorer neighborhoods (despite persecution from police) until it's legalization in the 1930s.
Today, capoeira is celebrated and practiced around the world.
Our group, Capoeira Angola Quintal, practices a style of capoeira called "Mindful Capoeira" - learned, practiced and developed by our group's Master, Mestre Ombrinho. The following points distinguish "Mindful Capoeira" from other capoeira practices:
- a way to learn and practice capoeira that promotes longevity and a lifelong practice
- use and mastery of capoeira's basic movements
- developing intelligence over speed and force
- emphasizing cooperation over competition
- proper technique and control over violence–uncontrolled technique, physical contact and especially violence are not permitted
- learning from the wisdom of the elder masters
- accessible to people of all ages and abilities
- building a supportive and inclusive community
- celebrating freedom and diversity
Our Teachers
INSTRUTOR ESPIÃO:
Instrutor Espião (Greg Hollar) is the lead capoeira instructor at the Rochester Mindful Capoeira Center and has been training for over 20 years.
MESTRE OMBRINHO:
Mestre Ombrinho (Michael Goldstein) began studying Capoeira in 1981. In 1987, he became a disciple of Grand Master Norival Moreira de Oliveira, Mestre Nô, of Bahia and joined Capoeira Angola Palmares. Ombrinho became a master in 1996 under Mestre Nô. He has been teaching in New York since 1988, and is the founder and head instructor of the New York Mindful Capoeira Center and Capoeira Angola Quintal (CAQ). He has graduated many fine practitioners and instructors, both men and women. Today he has many amazing teachers and CAQ chapters across the country, including: New York City, Ithaca, Rochester (that's us!), Boston, San Francisco and Charlotte.