Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira - Bay Area

Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira - Bay Area is located in the heart of Berkeley. Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art that fuses music, dance, history, philosophy, and community, is the manifestation of enslaved Africans who fought against captivity. Specializing in Capoeira Régional, Filhos de Bimba - Bay Area was founded in 2013 by Professor Malandro. We are the only school in California that trains in this lineage.

Capoeira Régional, one of the main lineages of capoeira, was created by Manuel do Reis Machado, known as Mestre Bimba. With a focus on tying capoeira back to its African foundation, Bimba revived lost movements and added traditional African elements. Once considered an activity practiced by people perceived as social derelicts, Bimba sought to make capoeira a respectable art form that anyone could practice.

Mestre Malandro

Founder, Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira - Bay Area

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mestre Malandro began his capoeira practice in 1997 under the guidance of Barret “Camarada” Leveret at Capoeira Mandinga Detroit. In 2000, he relocated to the Bay Area to train capoeira full-time. After spending a year researching capoeira in Brazil in 2005, he met Mestre Nenel and trained in his academy, Fundação Mestre Bimba. He officially joined Filhos De Bimba Escola de Capoeira in 2013 and founded the Bay Area chapter, formally inaugurated by Mestre Nenel on March 30, 2013. Filhos de Bimba - Bay Area is the first Filhos de Bimba school in the United States.

In July 2022, he founded the Filhos de Bimba, Atlanta chapter. He continues to teach FdB Bay Area classes with bimonthly Zoom classes.

Mestre Nenel

Founder, Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira & Fundação Mestre Bimba

Son of Mestre Bimba, Mestre Nenel trained in his father’s school, the Centro de Cultural Física Régional, graduating in 1967. Wanting to persevere and promote his father’s work, he founded Associação de Capoeira Filhos de Bimba in 1986, later renamed Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira. He’s known as the global reference for Capoeira Régional.

Filhos de Bimba Facilitators

The FdB Facilitators are a group of students who’ve trained with Mestre Malandro over the years and oversee the school’s day-to-day operations. Under Mestre Malandro’s guidance, these students facilitate classes and represent the school in the Bay Area capoeira community.

Where and When We Train

We train at Finnish Hall in Berkeley, just a 5-minute drive from the UC Berkeley campus. We train Tuesdays, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. We have open sessions at Linden Park on Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., weather permitting.

FUNDRAISING GOALS

Under Professor Malandro's guidance, we are building a new foundation for our group to remain a cornerstone for Capoeira Régional in the Bay Area. We're raising funds to support infrastructure to hold classes for adults and kids, maintain the space where we train, organize workshops and events, and support visiting teachers and instructors. Zumbimba, our biggest event held in November, is a celebration of influential figures in capoeira and symbols of Black resistance in Brazil. We invite guest instructors like Mestre Nenel to teach workshops and spread their knowledge of this cultural art form.

We thank you for your continued support and hope to see you in our next class!