HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL
Paulo Antônio De Souza (Mestre Paulinho) was born in Rio de Janeiro the 18th of may 1964.
FIRST CONTACT
For Mestre Paulinho the first contact with Capoeira is in his childhood, when
at the age of eight assists with his father to the Roda de Rua, called Roda da Penha, a traditional Roda realised every year in the Penha district during the celebrations of Nossa Senhora da Penha.
Mestre Paulinho didn't know what was all about, but he was struck, in that
occasion, by Mestre Touro in action with his characteristic floreio called relógio. Later on this movement became one of main characteristics
of Mestre Paulinho's jogo.
Until the age of 18 anni Mestre Paulinho lives in Olaria district,
where he has the oportunity to see in some of the Rodas in the favela Morro
do Alemão, realised in Largo da Caixa d'agua, Mestre
Teté and Mestre Martins.
WHY CAPOEIRA?
In the year 1982 Mestre
Paulinho moves with his family to Vila do João in Manguinhos district in Rio de Janeiro. There with with an old friend of his childhood
(George) founds an amateur theatre. To introduce the theatre group he partecipate
to a meeting with the young of the Comunity that where acting as assistants
of the Rondonistas. The Rondonistas were young university students
leading a project with social and cultural finalities, called Marechal
Rondon, funded by the government with the purpose of to bring information
and culture in poor areas. There he meets with Ronaldo Messias Lacerda (Mestre
Jimmy) that was leading the Marechal Rondon project as manager of the
sports of the philantropic institution Ação Comunitária
do Brasil in Vila do João. Paulinho join the group and becomes
one of the assistants. Later he starts training Karate shotokan under the
guide of a friend (yellow belt). When he tells about his training, Jimmy (purple
belt), offers to teach him if Paulinho manages to find other persons interested
to open a course. In the Comunity Jimmy was responsible even for the music
and Capoeira workshops. In one of the Rodas at the end of the training
sessions of Capoeira Paulinho sees his friend Baiano (Iranildo Batista
dos Santos), age 20, assaulting violently his other friend Josivam Paulino
Do Nascimento (Mestre Touchê), age 12. Seeing his impossibility
in intervening in the Roda he decides to begin training Capoeira for
revenge, naturally in the years this feeling gradually disappeared leaving
in its place a profound identification with this art.
MESTRE JIMMY
Ronaldo Messias Lacerda (Mestre Jimmy), started training capoeira at the age
of 12 anni with Mestre Aluizio until receiving the yellow and blue
belt. When Mestre Aloisio moves, Mestre Jimmy decides to join the Grupo
Irmãos of Mestre Gilberto da Barra, in Barra da Tijuca district, in which he remains fro three years. Later Mestre Jimmy moves in
the Suburbio of Rio de Janeiro and there he meets Mestre Gilberto
Oscaranha, at that time member of the Special Department Capoeira of the
Brasilian Confederation of Boxing. Jimmy became Mestre Oscaranha's student,
receiving in 1987 the Master belt.
GRUPO DE CAPOEIRA CARCARÁ
Four years before, in
the year 1983, Mestre Jimmy at that time Instructor (blue belt) and student
of Mestre Gilberto Oscaranha, gave up his charge as sports manager of Ação
Comunitaria do Brasil in Vila do João and starts teaching
in the sports academy TP108 in Meyer district. In this same period
he decides to found the GRUPO DE CAPOEIRA CARCARÁ. Paulinho,
meanwhile, considering Jimmy's abandon is chosen from his Capoeira training
as a substitute for Jimmy: that was how Paulinho by chance starts his way
into teaching .
In 1985 Paulinho finally succedes in finding Jimmy, that in that period was
teaching in Lagoa district in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro,
giving in this way continuity to his apprenticeship and at the same time mantaining
alive the bond Vila do João students and his Master. In the
Grupo Carcará he meets with Sidney Martins Pereira (actually Contra-Mestre
Fumaça) that, besides practising Capoeira, is actor. Mestre Paulinho
partecipates in two theatre workshops one given by Sidney and the other by
Tina Águas, both members of Grupo Pessoal do Tom.
Amongst the many student that Paulinho had from that period until 1992, when
he moved to Rome, we can quote: Wallace Jorge Vieira (Guerrinha), Alex
Vieira Da Silva (Chuvisco), André Gonçalves (Curumim),
Antônio Carlos Barbosa (Abelha), Jonailson Paulo Martins (Mestre
Montanha), his student until the garde of Instructor (cordel azul)
e Antônio Carlos Da Silva (Contra-Mestre Cacique) until the cordel
verde.
ITALY
Sidney in contact with
the Italian Consulate suggests to the Consul to establish a group of Capoeira
and Pagode in Italy; the Consul find the idea interesting. Sidney along with
Mestre Paulinho, Josivam Paulino Do Nascimento (Mestre Touchê), Jonailson
Paulo Martins (Mestre Montanha) e Antônio Carlos Barbosa (Abelha),
all members of the Grupo Carcará, build up this gruop. The political
and economical situation in Brazil persuades Sidney to leave Brasil alone
and travel Italy: it's the year 1990. Contra-Mestre Fumaça, at that
time still yellow and blue belt, has been the first Carcará to bring
capoeira in Rome. Here he succedes in opening the first capoeira course in
the Brazilian Centre of Studies of the Brazilian Embassy.
In 1991 he realise the I° Batizado Carcará in Rome and the following
year, on the 24th of june, he manages to bring to Rome Mestre Jimmy and Mestre
Paulinho (at that time Contra-Mestre), along with other two students of the
Grupo Carcará of Rio de Janeiro. During the Batizado Mestre Jimmy promotes
to the grade of Instructor Fumaça and Carlos Surfista and to the grade
of Master, Paulinho (09 luglio 1992). Since then Mestre Paulinho undertakes
the role of Technical and Cultural Supervisor, Responsible and most representing
figure of the Grupo Carcará in Italy.
GRUPO LAÇOS
In December 1995 Mestre
Paulinho, lacking of the necessary permit to stay in Italy, is forced to return
in Brazil. He decides to leave in charge of the italian group his older students
Alessandra Palmieri (Raio), Patrizio Nanni (Papagaio) e Giuliano Loretani
(Elétrico).
Mestre Jimmy, forbids Mestre Paulinho's solution.
After a month Mestre Paulinho leaves for Buenos Aires (Argentina) where he
remains for one and a half years.
In June 1996 he travel back to Italy for a period of 20 days decided in maintaining
alive his work and, trying to avoid his Master prohibition, decides with an
escamotage to found with his Italian students the GRUPO LAÇOS DE
CAPOEIRA.
In 1997 he stays for six months in Italy going back to Brazil in 1998 in an
educational tour with his Italian students among which Patrizio Nanni (Papagaio),
Giuliano Loretani (Elétrico), Chiara Busico (Dunga), Monica Mauro (Macaquinha),
Domenico Ietto (Rastão), Giulia Falcucci (Água-viva), Andrea
Cianni (Sábio) e Cristiana Trotta (Camaraozinha).
Some of this students, feeling the need of the Mestre Paulinho's presence,
return with the aim of bringing back Mestre Paulinho in Italy and with this
intent they found the Associazione Capoeirando. Mestre Paulinho comes
definitively in Italy on the 20th of March of 2000. With Mestre Paulinho's
presence in Rome the Grupo Laços is dissolved and all the Italian students
are reintegrated in the Grupo Carcará of Rio de Janeiro.
20th of NOVEMBER 2004
Since then Mestre Paulinho
begins structuring the Gruppo Carcará in Italy, decides to:
- create the Hino Carcará
- create the first website
- divide courses in three levels (beginners, intermediates and advanced)
- create an annual program for each level
- insert in the group's program the toques (Berimbau's rhythms) and the jogo
de Banguela and São Bento de Bimba, never studied or used until then
in the group
- introduce Capoeira Ângola
- modernise the group logo
- promote and financing the realisation of the first CD Carcará (in
which he will be author and interpret of some of the pieces)
- conceive the changes in the graduation system
In all this, Mestre Paulinho finds an extreme difficulty in proposing such
improvements and an extreme slowness in receiving a response, beyond a scarce
interest of his Master and of the other Masters of the group (Touchê
and Montanha).
Mestre Paulinho feeling the need in his work of more decisional freedom and
autonomy on 20th of November 2004 he leaves the Grupo Carcará founding, with his students, the ESCOLA DE CAPOEIRA GINGA CARIOCA.
ESCOLA DE CAPOEIRA GINGA CARIOCA
Mestre Paulinho chooses to use the term Escola and not Grupo because whereas
the term Grupo refers to an occasional grouping, the term ESCOLA indicates
both a long training route and the existence of a guiding figure in it.
The term GINGA indicates the basic movement of Capoeira from which start all the others offensive and defensive movements and by which the capoeirista tries to deceive or disorientate the other.
CARIOCA is a Tupi term which literaly means "white men's house",
formerly indicated the person born in the Estado da Guanabara. The
l'Estado da Guanabara was an independent state, its area corresponded to the
actual city of Rio de Janeiro (Cidade de São Sebastião do Rio
de Janeiro).
GINGA CARIOCA is the easy and dancing manner of moving, the capacity
of facing or "getting out" from the different situations with cunning:
it's the "way of life" of the people from Rio de Janeiro.
The School of CAPOEIRA GINGA CARIOCA aims to the teaching, study, research, preservation and dissemination of the arts, traditions and Afro-Brazilian folklore, and especially of Capoeira in its various aspects of sport, combat, martial arts , acrobatics, dance, body expression, improvisation, rhythm, games, folklore, art, poetry, music, singing, non-verbal communication, ritual.
The School of CAPOEIRA GINGA CARIOCA is today based in Italy in the following cities: Rome, Bracciano, Lucca, Terni.