About Capoeira Asheville
(CECA/AJPP Asheville)
Our mission is to utilize the traditional Afro-Brazilian art of Capoeira Angola to promote the health, well-being and development of the Asheville community through capoeira classes, performances, and community outreach. Additionally, we seek to contribute to the cultural diversity of the Western North Carolina region, creating a basis for cultural exchange between Brazil and the US.
CECA: The First Capoeira Angola Academy
Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola (CECA) comes form a long tradition of education and preservation of the African-Brazilian art form of Capoeira Angola. Mestre Pastinha opened the first official Capoeira Angola school in 1941 and coined the name CECA. Following Pastinha's death, his student Mestre Joao Pequeno continued the legacy of the CECA Academy. Today the CECA academy continues to thrive due to the hard work and dedication of capoeira teachers graduated by Mestre Joao Pequeno including our mestre, Mestre Pe de Chumbo.
Our groups lineage
Mestre Pastinha
Vicente Ferreira Pastinha (April 5, 1889, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil – November 13, 1981)
Learn more here:
Mestre João Pequeno
João Pereira dos Santos or Mestre João Pequeno de Pastinha (27 December 1917 – 9 December 2011)
Learn more here:
Mestre Pé de Chumbo
Professor Mestrando Stefan
(Contramestre)
Stefan Bonitz has studied and practiced Capoeira Angola since 1997. Stefan has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Brazil to learn from the masters. Stefan has maintained an "academy" of capoeira in Asheville, NC since 2006 as a branch of one of the first Capoeira Angola Academies in Brazil - "Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola" (CECA) founded in 1941. In 2009 while traveling and studying in Brazil Stefan was graduated as Trenel (trainer) under this organization and again in 2013 graduated as Professor by Mestre Pe de Chumbo. Returning again to Brazil in 2019 for study and workshops, Stefan graduated as "Professor Mestrando" or more commonly referred to as Contramestre.
Trenel Jash
Bio coming soon.
Capoeira in Asheville, NC
The Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola Asheville (CECAA) was founded by Mestre Pe de Chumbo in June of 2006. Mestre Pe de Chumbo currently lives in Brazil and in his absence left trained students to give classes, performances and workshops. Professor Mestrando Stefan and Trenel Jashwant now give weekly classes in addition to giving workshops at various venues in the southeastern area. The group is proud to be able to host Mestre Pe de Chumbo and other Brazilian capoeira teachers yearly.