Instructors

---

Graduado Capivara

Graduado Capivara (Brendan) started playing capoeira with a small student group in 2004 at Truman State University. After his introduction to capoeira, he trained in a variety of groups and styles in Minnesota, Iowa, and elsewhere, until he started training regularly with Raízes do Brasil Madison in 2011.  Inspired by his capoeira training and background in music, Capivara studied Brazilian music and culture as part of his MA in ethnomusicology at UW Madison spending many hours learning Portuguese and Brazilian history.   Starting in 2014, he began substitute teaching both the adult and kids' classes and preparing to share more of the teaching responsibility for the group, and he took over a large share of the teaching load for adult classes in 2016. In the Summer of 2016 he started a class for children at the Warner Park community center as the primary instructor. Capivara's current work outside of capoeira focuses on k-12 bilingual education in Mandinka, Spanish, and Portuguese. He lives with his wife, Garça, who also trains with RdB, and their son Felix, who hasn't begun his training yet but only because he's still working his gross motor skills.  

Graduado moinho

Graduado Moinho (Joe) first saw Capoeira in a film in 1993 but it wasn't until 2006, when his friend Edwin, (known in the Capoeira world as Lebre) had started training that he was convinced to try it out. After an impromptu class in the park one summer evening Moinho (Portuguese for Windmill) was hooked. He quickly became one of the most dedicated students of the Madison branch of Raízes do Brasil Capoeira, participating in as many classes, demos and workshops as his busy work schedule would allow. He considers himself lucky to have been able to travel to California and New York for several events featuring workshops with Masters of Capoeira from around the U.S. and Brazil. Moinho is always very excited to share his experience helping teach kid and adult classes whenever his work schedule allows.

Fantasminha

​Fantasminha (Liz) first saw capoeira in middle school and was very impressed. She didn't have the opportunity to try it herself until 2012, when she moved to Madison for graduate school and a friend brought her to a class with Raízes do Brasil Capoeira Madison. She quickly fell in love with capoeira and began attending as many classes, workshops, and demos as she could. In addition to her graduate classes, TA-ing, and ongoing PhD research in environmental toxicology, Fantasminha has also taken Portuguese and many classes about teaching, particularly teaching to diverse students.  In the summer of 2016 she started substitute teaching kids' and adults' classes for Raízes do Brasil. Now, in 2017, she is excited to share her experience in teaching and passion for capoeira as she steps into a more prominent teaching role as our lead teacher for the kids.