LEARNING THE ART OF CAPOEIRA WITH CONTRA-MESTRA GATA BRAVA
Check out Gata Brava’s interview with Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls: https://amysmartgirls.com/learning-the-art-of-capoeira-with-monitora-gata-brava-5998ce627e03
About
Capoeira
Developed in Brazil by enslaved Africans during the 16th century, the martial art of Capoeira, disguised as a dance and including acrobatics, music, and the Portuguese language, was used as a means to resist oppression in the relentless struggle for freedom. This program led by Leigh Robertson (Mestra Gata Brava) gives students the opportunity to participate in all aspects of capoeira while simultaneously promoting an active, healthy lifestyle. Balance, coordination, endurance, self-expression, and respect are just a few of the countless benefits capoeira fosters in its practitioners.
Mestra Gata Brava
Leigh Robertson, aka Mestra “Gata Brava”, is an internationally recognized teacher and performer of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira, and one of the select few American women to achieve this rank. For over 23 years she has dedicated her life to preserving and sharing the unique style of Capoeira passed down to her by her teacher, Mestre Doutor.
In 2009, Leigh founded Capoeira Morro Verde, the first Afro-Brazilian Cultural Center in Bucks County, PA, offering multi-faceted instructional programs for children and adults.
Working with countless grade schools and colleges has led Leigh to create programs specifically tailored to adults and children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, ADHD, auditory processing disorder and executive function difficulties, as well as autism and related conditions.
In her journey to help spread Capoeira to the greater community, Leigh has trained actors, performed in and choreographed for Disney’s Step Up movie series, and was featured on TEDx in NYC. However, Leigh considers the most fulfilling aspects of her work to be done locally, teaching regularly for underserved communities with limited access to the arts.
Professor Rolha
Corky Brown, a.k.a. Professor “Rolha”, is an accomplished capoeirista whose passion for learning and helping others to learn has made him a successful instructor, entrepreneur, software engineer, musician, and parent. He’s proud of his many years of experience with developmentally disabled children and adults, and considers teaching to be his one true talent. Corky has been with Mestra Gata Brava since the founding of Capoeira Morro Verde in 2009.
Corky has created many websites to provide the capoeira community with information and tools to help navigate the folkloric art through the digital age. As an amateur linguist, he created the Capoeira Language, an alphabet for transcribing the movements of capoeira. And as a self-taught musician, he now feeds his musical appetite with the deep traditions of capoeira and other Afro-Brazilian arts.
