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Cordão de Ouro Capoeira Academy Contra-Mestre Denis Mestre Suassuna 32 East Springfield Avenue, Unit 4 Champaign, IL 61820 217.721.0887 cordaodeouro@gmail.com |
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. | Denis Chiaramonte hails from Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil. He started training capoeira for several years, beginning his study in the 90's. Since then, he has trained with Mestre Galo, Grupo Idalina Cordão de Ouro with Contra-Mestre Febem (also known as Cobrinha), which was founded by Mestre Ra, and most recently with Cordão de Ouro Capoeira Association, studying directly with Mestre Suassuna. Mestre Suassuna was a student of Mestre Bimba, the creator of Capoeira Regional, and he is the creator of the style called Miudinho, which was developed in the early 1980s. He is the founder of Cordão de Ouro Capoeira Association, which is now one of the largest and most important Capoeira organizations in the world. |
| Contra-Mestre
Denis has worked with Mestre Suassuna for over five years, both as a
student and instructor. He has assisted Suassuna in workshops in
Brazil, Israel, and the United States, as well as running his own
academy in Jundiaí, outside of São Paulo. Denis received his contra-mestre cord in January at Capoeirando 2004. Contra-Mestre Denis was part of Mestre Suassuna's last graduating class along with Conta-Mestres Chicote, Boca-Rica, Kibe, Coruja, Saroba, Kino, Chiclete, Romoaldo, Barata, Esquilo, Eurico, Habib's, Pintado, Lu Pimenta, Mentirinha, and Muriel. Denis is really proud of being part of the Cordão de Ouro family and has contributed a lot to the growth of the Capoeira Club at UIUC since his arrival at the 2003 Batizado. Contra-Mestre Denis teaches a variety of classes, in capoeira as well as other Brazilian dances. He can teach multiple styles of capoeira: Angola, Regional, and miudinho. Denis teaches maculelê, Dança Guerreira, Samba de Roda, Puxada de Rede, and Dança do Fogo. He can teach a range of levels, from the complete beginner to advanced students. Contra-Mestre Denis can also teach the music of capoeira, as well as the dances mentioned above. He is an expert at the berimbau, and highly skilled on all the instruments used in these dances. . . | ||
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The destiny of that skinny young boy that could barely walk, really was capoeira. At age 12, Mestre Suassuna was forced to play capoeira by his mother. At that time he played capoeira Angola, the capoeira of the old masters, such as Mestre Sururu, Bigode de Arame, Arnaldo Corneteiro and Joao Grande. In the mid 60s, Mestre Suassuna went to São Paulo to expand capoeira, along with Mestre Brasilia, Joel and Pinatti. He founded Cordão de Ouro with Mestre Brasilia, and from then on, Mestre Suassuna has many stories to tell. | |
| One of the pioneers of Capoeira in São
Paulo, Reinaldo Suassuna was born on July 4, 1942, in Ilheus, Bahia. He
started capoeira in 1958 in Ilheus and Itabuna with the ancient
capoeiristas. According to Mestre Suassuna, at that time there weren't
many Mestres, the only ones you would hear about were Mestre Pastinha
and Mestre Bimba both from Salvador. But he considers all the
capoeiristas he had contact with as his masters. In 1965, Academia de Capoeira Regional de São Paulo (ACRESP) was founded in Vila Mariana, São Paulo. The academy was behind Mestre Pinatti's academy. Pinatti was very important for Mestre Suassuna contributing to his capoeira and helping him a lot when he arrived in São Paulo. Later on Mestre Suassuna opened Cordão de Ouro in partnership with Mestre Brasilia in downtown São Paulo. "It was a lot of hard work," Mestre Suassuna says. Both had to work to pay for the academy's expenses. Capoeira used to be a discriminated sport in São Paulo. They decided to open an academy that would be opened 12 hours a day. Fortunately, it got recognized and on September 1, 1966, Academia de Capoeira Cordão de Ouro was founded. At Academia Cordão de Ouro, between 1967 and 1969, many great capoeiristas would get together. They would play capoeira, joke around and then go to parties. One day, Mestre Suassuna urged all of them to start their own academies. He would help them as much as he could, and even gave them a deadline. Mestre Suassuna always saw sports as a good way to have people come together and help each other. "I never wanted to manipulate capoeira," said Suassuna, "it belongs to all of us." . . | ||
 Cordão de Ouro Capoeira was founded in 1965 by Mestre Suassuna in São Paulo, Brazil. The most important aspect about Cordão de Ouro that sets it apart from many other Capoeira groups is the strong sense of family found within. The tight bonds that have formed between the Capoeira players in Cordão de Ouro are what we consider our most important defining characteristic. Another important part of Cordão de Ouro is miudinho, a style of Capoeira developed by Mestre Suassuna in the early 80s. All Cordão de Ouro players learn some of the fundamentals of miudinho, but only the people who train with Mestre Suassuna in São Paulo can truly learn the style. Contra-Mestre Denis and all the students of Cordão de Ouro would like to welcome you to be a part of our family. Check the Class Information page to find out more about our classes and schedule. | ||
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