Gingarte Capoera Chicago
at the University of Chicago

Salve!
Welcome to Gingarte Capoeira at the University of Chicago's home on the web. We are a recognized student organization as well as the largest Capoeira Organization in the Midwest. Our extended family, Grupo Cordao de Ouro, began in Brazil and has spread across 5 continents. Gingarte Capoeira's mission is to promote African-Brazilian culture and provide instruction in capoeira, maculêlê, samba and other arts.

UChicago Upcoming Performances
There are currently no upcoming performances. Please check back soon!

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?
At first glance, capoeira may appear to be a dance between two people, gracefully combining movements to the beat of and orchestra of berimbaus, atabaques, pandeiros and crescendo-ing voices. Suddenly, the dance turns aggressive, and skilled capoeiristas exchange kicks, throws, and daring acrobatic maneuvers with both beautiful grace and deadly accuracy.

Capoeira is more than a martial art, more than a dance. It is a way of life. It combines elements of fighting, dancing, singing and instrumentation into a unique cultural experience that is expressed in an amazing physical and spiritual space. Its origins are embedded in African slave history of the 1800's Brazil. The art form arose from the pressures of colonialism and oppression of slaves disguised as a form of self-defense in the charade of dance.
Today, capoeira thrives in its history and philosophy as it continues to promote awareness of oppression and its symbolic resistance against it. 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