07/09/2026
Plus: street performances, open roda, and our annual encontro
Hello Community!
Friday, July 10, at 10 a.m. Mestre Federico will be joining me to teach an online mobility and flow capoeira class, broadcast from our studio.
Mestre Federico is a visiting guest Mestre at our upcoming annual encontro (more on that below). He is the founder of Capoeira Angola Palmares's nucleus in Italy, an incredible teacher, and an all around amazing human.
Join us tomorrow from your home or office for an appetizer of next week's festivities? Sing up here: book.squareup.com/classes/rclf25lju3tfq9/location/LHJTT6E00WYRS/classes . You'll receive an email before class with a Zoom link.
PS, we hope you'll join us for a performance and open roda on Saturday, June 11, and for our big annual encontro the next week! See below.
Warmly.
Eamon (Professor Jesus)
Head instructor and owner
San Francisco Capoeira Academy
Performance and open roda on Saturday, July 11
On Saturday, July 11, at 1 p.m. Capoeira Angola Palmares will be performing a demo at the Fern Alley music series, around the corner from the studio in Fern Alley off Polk St. Please come to enjoy and support!
And after that . . . it's roda time! As always, our roda is free and open to all. It'll run from 2 to 4 p.m. at our studio at 1425 Bush St. See details below.
Annual Encontro, July 15–18
Finally, it's Encontro time!
Our annual Encontro ("encounter") is a time of intensive study for our capoeira students, capped with an incredible celebration of their accomplishments and of Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations.
This year's event is titled "Malandro Dorme Acordado" and features original art by San Francisco Capoeira Academy student and teacher-in-training Martinha. The title references a ladainha (traditional praise song) written by our grandmaster, Mestre Nô, which means, loosely, that the capable capoeirista sleeps with their eyes open—a malandro is a street-smart person, and dorme acordado means "to sleep awake." The art is an homage to Mestre Nô, based on a recently re-discovered photo of him in his youth, and mimicking the style of wood-print art popular in cordel literature—a type of folk storytelling from northeastern Brazil.
In short, the cultural roots of this event and theme are deep!
Confirmed guest teachers include:
Mestra Morena (Capoeira Angola Palmares, US)
Mestre Federico (aka Fepah, Capoeira Angola Palmares, Italy)
Contramestre Ariranha (Capoeira Angola Palmares, New York)
Contramestre Galo Preto (Filhos de Palmares, Tacoma, Washington)
Professor Mosquitinho (Capoeira Angola Palmares, Arizona)
And many others.
Our weekday event is almost sold out, but there are a couple of full-event tickets left. Grab them here: friscocapoeira.com/encontro2026 (https://www.friscocapoeira.com/encontro2026)
Our workshops and big performance on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18 will be held at Mannakin Theater (1625 Bush St. at Franklin). There is plenty of space at Mannakin and we'd love to see you there—either to train with us or just to watch. Spectating on Saturday is donation-based.
Still thinking about getting started in capoeira or maybe getting back into it? Summer is a great time to dip your toes in by joining a drop-in beginner class. If it's your first time in the studio, you can get two weeks of beginner classes included with your registration. See you soon!
See you in class!
Tomorrow: Online class with Mestre Federico! Click here for an update from San Francisco Capoeira Academy!
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