Capoeira Angola & Regional · Oakland
Come play in the roda.
The Afro-Brazilian art of the game — half fight, half dance, with live music — for kids and adults. Your first class is free, and nobody arrives flexible.
What capoeira is
Half fight, half dance, all conversation.
Ginga — the swing that never stops
The ginga keeps you moving, hard to read and always ready. It is the first thing we teach and the last thing anyone masters.
Jogo — a game, not a fight
Two players ask questions with kicks and answer with escapes. The best games are the ones where nobody gets touched and everybody is surprised.
Axé — the energy of the circle
Axé is what a roda gives back: the songs, the clapping, the people who catch you when you fall out of a cartwheel.
Programs
Six ways into the circle.
The music
Every game has a song.
Three berimbaus lead the roda: they set the rhythm, and the rhythm tells the players what kind of game to play — slow and low, fast and high, playful or sharp. Every student learns to play and to sing, because in capoeira the music is not the background. It is the referee.
- Berimbau The bow with one string and a gourd. Three of them lead the roda and set the speed of the game.
- Pandeiro The tambourine that keeps the pulse under every song.
- Atabaque The tall drum. When it joins, the whole circle lifts.
- Agogô & reco-reco The bells and the scraper — the bright edge of the bateria.
The cords
Your cord is your story so far.
Capoeira grades with a cord, the cordão, tied round the waist of your white abadá. New cords are given at the batizado — our yearly festival — by a visiting mestre, in front of everyone.
Crua — the raw cord
Given at your first batizado, usually after four to six months: you have joined the roda.
Amarela — yellow
The ginga is yours. Escapes come without thinking, and you can sing the coro.
Laranja — orange
Combinations, the first floreios, and a game that starts to listen to the other player.
Azul — blue
You play every rhythm of the berimbau and help teach the beginners.
Verde — green
Graduado: you lead warm-ups, sing the ladainha and keep the roda safe.
Roxa — purple
Instrutor. Seven to ten years of training, and the start of a different apprenticeship.
Schedule
The week at the academy.
Kids — little onesMon · Wed 16:15
Ages 4–7 · songs and cartwheels
KidsMon · Wed 17:00
Ages 8–12 · the full game
TeensTue · Thu 17:00
Ages 13–17
Adults — fundamentalsMon · Wed 18:30
Beginners welcome
Adults — all levelsTue · Thu 18:30
Kicks, escapes, the game
Music classThu 20:00
Berimbau, pandeiro and songs
FloreiosFri 18:00
Acrobatics on mats
Adults — open trainingFri 19:15
Every cord
KidsSat 09:30
Ages 4–12 · family friendly
The Saturday rodaSat 11:00
Everyone plays · music live
Women’s rodaSun 10:00
Women only · every level
Wear comfortable trousers and a T-shirt for your first class; we train barefoot. The Saturday roda is open to everyone, members or not — come and watch, or come and play.
The mestres
Taught by the people who carry the songs.
Mestre Beija-Flor
Founder · Mestre · 31 years in the roda
Learned in Salvador’s Pelourinho as a boy and opened Axé in a borrowed church hall in 2006. Plays the gunga, sings the ladainha, and still takes the beginners’ class on Mondays.
Professora Onda
Women’s roda & kids · Professora
A former dancer who walked into a roda at twenty-six and never left. Runs the kids program and the Sunday women’s roda, and makes everyone sing louder than they meant to.
Instrutor Coruja
Floreios & teens · Instrutor
Came up through the teen program and now teaches it. Responsible for most of the backflips in Oakland, and for the mats under every one of them.
I came for a workout and found a family that sings. Two years in, I can play the berimbau and do an aú without thinking — at forty-four.
Our son was the shy one at school. Now he leads the songs at the kids’ roda and teaches his sister cartwheels in the kitchen.
The Sunday women’s roda is the best two hours of my week. Nobody cares how good you are; everybody cares that you came.
Tuition
Monthly, simple, and the first class is free.
Kids
$95per month
- Two classes a week
- Saturday family roda
- Abadá at the first batizado
- Pause any month
Ages 4–12.
Adults unlimited
$139per month
- Every class on the schedule
- Music class and floreios
- The Saturday and women’s rodas
- Batizado entry included
Teens $109 a month.
Family
$229per month
- Two to four family members
- Any program, unlimited
- Parents train with kids on Saturday
- One batizado fee for the family
Each extra member $35.
Month to month, no contract and no joining fee. Nobody is ever turned away from the Saturday roda for not being able to pay — ask the mestre.
Questions we hear at the door
Do I need to be flexible or fit?
No. Almost nobody is when they start. The ginga and the basic escapes build strength and flexibility slowly, and every movement has an easier version.
Is it a dance or a fight?
Both, and neither. It is a game played with a partner: real kicks and real escapes, with control, to live music. Nobody is trying to hurt anybody.
What should I wear?
Comfortable trousers and a T-shirt for your first classes. Most students buy white abadá trousers within a month or two; we train barefoot.
Can parents and kids train together?
Yes — the Saturday morning class and roda are for families, and the family plan covers everyone.
Do I really have to sing?
Eventually, a little. The songs are call and response, so you only ever need to answer the chorus. It is easier — and more fun — than it sounds.
What is a batizado?
Our yearly festival, when new students receive their first cord and others move up. A visiting mestre plays a game with each of them. Families come; it is a party.
Your first roda is free
Come and play.
Tell us who is coming — you, your child, the whole family — and we will reply within a day with a class to try. Come ten minutes early and someone will meet you at the door.