We hold classes year round 2-3 times per week on the campus of the University of Chicago and everyday at our academy on 1501 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago IL. Classes are open to students, community members, and visiting capoeiristas from around the world.

Join the Gingarte Capoeira googlegroups email listhost to receive the latest news and access our calendar of performances and events.

Our company
Founded in 1991, Gingarte Capoeira has grown into a thriving community of over 100 students and performers, many of whom have been with the school for over a decade. The focal point of our activity is at the Gingarte Academy located at 2056 West 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The Gingarte Academy offers a diverse range of classes focusing on Brazilian culture including capoeira, dance, music, and Portuguese language.
Gingarte trains and practices under the tutelage of Contra-Mestre Marisa Cordeiro, who ranks among the highest female capoeiristas in the United States. She is well respected both in the U.S. and Brazil as a pioneer for women in capoeira.
Gingarte Capoeira is also well-known as a performance group throughout Chicago and the surrounding area for our lively shows and demonstrations of capoeira and African-Brazilian cultural dances.
We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preserving and promoting awareness of the cultural significance of capoeira. By holding workshops, special events, and performances in capoeira and Brazilian arts, we continue to educate the community by making capoeira accessible to a broad spectrum of people.

What is capoeira?
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art, disguised as a dance and accompanied by the rhythms of the berimbau, atabaque, pandeiro, and song. Underlying the training and music, capoeira is a way of life. It combines elements of fighting, dancing, singing, and music into a unique cultural physical and spiritual expression. Its origins are embedded in the African slave history of the 1800's Brazil. The pressures of colonialism and oppression drove the slaves to develop methods of self-defense, but these methods had to be concealed and disguised as a dance.
Today, capoeira continues to develop, promoting community, culture, the arts, and an awareness of oppression and teaching philosophical methods of resistance. Gingarte Capoeira shares in this rich tradition and strives to commemorate its history and explore boundaries of the art.

Our contra-mestre
Marisa Cordeiro is the Director of Gingarte Capoeira and a shining symbol of the Brazilian community in Chicago. Born in Cur Velo, Brazil, Marisa trained at the prestigious Cordao de Ouro Capoeira Academy in São Paulo with top instructors such as Mestre Suassuna, Mestre Canguru, and Mestre Urubu Malandro. She is one of the highest-ranking women capoeiristas in the world.
Marisa first came to the United States in 1989 as a performer with the renowned international group Oba Oba. They performed throughout the United States and Latin America. Two years later, in 1991, Marisa returned to Chicago and established Gingarte Capoeira.

Visit our main website at http://www.gingartecapoeira.org for all current information