Mestre Carlão

Country: Brazil (Rio de Janeiro / Rio de Janeiro)

Carlo Alexandre, also known as Mestre Carlão, is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started Capoeira Angola in 1982 with Mestres Marco Aurélio and José Carlos – some of the few mestres titled by Mestre Moraes in Rio de Janeiro – and Mestre Armando Teixeira. Later on, he also learned the art of “Pandeiro Brasileiro” (Brazilian tambourine) from renowned Master Percussionist Pedro Lima.

Mestre Carlão’s work with Capoeira Angola has always been connected to social and cultural projects. Using Capoeira as a tool for positive self-transformation, Mestre Carlão has worked with children, youth and adults, from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi to the Brixton Prison, in London, and the Juvenile Detentions of Austin and Seattle, in the USA. Through his knowledge and experience with Capoeira and Brazilian percussion, he has also worked both as an instructor, choreographer and performer in The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Arcola Theatre, The South Bank Brazil Festival, Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival, the Colloque des Sincretisme Religieux du Caribe, in Martinique, and the 1998 World Cup, in France, as well as in conferences, festivals and workshops all over the world.

Mestre Carlão has also a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Art. He has integrated his academic knowledge to his vast experience with Capoeira and Brazilian percussion to develop a unique style of teaching, using the movements, playfulness, philosophy, and music of Capoeira Angola to reconnect and refine the creative and intuitive dimensions of people’s minds and bodies.

His frequent travels to the UK and the United States have led him to establish a cultural bridge between Brazil and these two countries and to create the Kabula Arts & Culture – an organization for Inter-Cultural Exchange of Afro-Brazilian practices. Mestre Carlão currently lives in London, where the headquarters of the Kabula Arts and Culture is located.