Amazonians receive unprecedented title of Doctor Honoris Causa at university in Portugal

Amazonian capoeiristas Angelo dos Anjos Oliveira, the master “Capacete Baraúna” and Felipe Barbosa de Oliveira, the “Mestre Fofinho”, received, this Friday (8), the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, granted by the Faculty Febraica, University of Lisbon and Order of Chaplains of Brazil
(OCB), in Lisbon, Portugal, for its contribution to sociocultural activities that celebrate Brazilian popular culture of an Afro-indigenous origin, through capoeiragem.

Both masters are representatives of the Escola Internacional de Capoeira Angola Matumbé, disciples of Luiz Carlos Bonates, “Mestre KK”, one of the biggest names in Capoeira in the State of Amazonas. The Matumbé School is the only one founded in Manaus that has gained international repercussion, with projects underway in Italy, Spain, France and Luxembourg.

For the “Capacete” master, the feeling with the title is one of gratitude and satisfaction with the recognition of his work and trajectory. Among those honored, there were also other representatives of Afro-Brazilian culture receiving the honor.

“At the moment I also thought about many of our ‘Griôs’, of the countless great holders of knowledge of our Brazilian culture, who deserved and deserve the same tribute, the same honor and, unfortunately, many do not receive their due recognition and respect, this it means how much we must continue to insist and fight to deconstruct educational formats that imprison enlightenment, that prevent and make it impossible for people to learn about these values ​​and their cultural riches”, he declared.

With the ceremony, the masters “Capacete Baraúna” and “Felipe Fotinho” were the first Amazonians to receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa as Masters of Capoeira for their services rendered to humanity, which also represents a victory for the capeiristic community, due to the recognition of its importance for human development and potential to transform lives.

Contribution to capoeira

The reach of the master’s art crossed the borders of Amazonas, Brazil and reached Europe. Currently, he is the director and coordinator of the Escola Internacional de Capoeira Angola Matumbé, which has units in Italy, Spain, France and Luxembourg.

Furthermore, he founded the Ilê Odara Brazilian Culture Center, where he develops sociocultural activities in the Italian capital, celebrating Brazilian popular culture with an Afro-indigenous matrix with the foundations of Capoeira Angola, the knowledge of Bahian masters and also other Brazilian cultural manifestations, such as: forró, samba, coco de Pernambuco and dances of African origin.

For the master, capoeira presents itself as a struggle of resistance and is the result of the need for freedom of the enslaved people in Brazil, with the main mission being to transmit this awareness to other countries. In international territory, Westernism challenges the teaching of capoeira, as well as language and technology also represent an obstacle to be overcome, above all, when understanding that the art takes the wealth of staple peoples, therefore, there is the relevance of being learned in community.

The relationship between Brazil and Italy is used by the master to develop capoeira, due to the historical, political and social cooperation between the two nations. In this way, Angelo points out that Italy is “embrazilized”, due to the significant presence of Brazilian immigrants, which makes cultural expressions more normalized by Italians.

In addition to the Brazil-Italy axis, Angelo has already taught classes in South Korea, Thailand, Jamaica, Germany, Iceland, Holland, France, Portugal, Jordan, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, England, Switzerland, Cape Verde, Japan, among many other countries. Just as he usually participates in professional and cultural events.

The transmission of capoeira Angola is the main objective of master Angelo “Capacete Baraúna”. In addition to continuing the project in Italy, it seeks to transform lives through culture, providing quality of life and human evolution in all sectors.

Read more:

History of Capoeira in Amazonas highlights in book

Practicing capoeira conquers children and teenagers in AM

Capoeira event takes place next Saturday (30) in Manaus