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The Tribo Afro-Bahiana
Mestre Caboquinho
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ABOUT CAPOEIRA

The Game of Vadiação


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HISTÓRIA DO MESTRE CABOQUINHO
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MESTRE CABOQUINHO DE ARUANDA

Visit Mestre Caboquinho on his Myspace music page!

"Native of Salvador, Bahia Brazil, I started Capoeira Angola when I was twelve years old with my father Jose Vicente Dantas. He was a student of João Bodeiro de Serrinha. However, as the Brazilian saying goes, 'a household saint will produce no miracles.' So I went to train with M. Alfonsinho, the son of YoYo, a civil policeman. Then after M. Alfonsinho closed his academy, I began to study with M. Curió. However, I needed to earn a living, so I decided to quit the academies and play street Capoeira.

In 1989, I came to the U.S. with Franco Fontana's group 'OBA OBA' and danced with the troupe in a Broadway show as well as other shows across the U.S. After the tour, I returned to Bahia where I met producer Tisuka Yamazaki. This meeting led me to a cameo in the Brazilian film 'Pagador de Promesa' in which I played Capoeira with a razor blade in between my toes.

On Oct 23, 1993, I arrived in Miami with the group Scala Miami. During the show, I would receive little notes from the audience, brought backstage to me by the waitstaff, asking me to teach them my art. So I began to teach in the same space I performed.

I have had four Mestres, my father, M. Afonsinho Filho de YoYo da Polícia Civil, Jaime Martins dos Santos (M. Curió), and my city Salvador, Bahia. Today, I live in Detroit, USA, to protect Capoeira Angola, to make my tribe grow and to teach my roots. I will continue to teach Capoeira Angola with my heart and I will stop only when Deus tells me."