Home baseBaltimore, MD
Casa de la Cultura
3403 Gough St, Baltimore, MD- Wed 5:00Kids capoeira (ages 6–11)
- Wed 6:00Teens & adults (12–101)
St. Luke's Church
800 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD- Mon/Thu 6:30Capoeira fundamentals
- Mon/Thu 7:30Contemporânea
Martial art. Music. Community. Baltimore.
Capoeira for Baltimore kids, and anyone ready to play. Education for Body, Mind, and Life.
Your first class is free. Kids 6–11, teens and adults welcome.
- Capoeira
- Berimbau
- Maculelê
- Samba de roda
- Pandeiro
- Os Cocos
- Atabaque
- Instrument making
- Portuguese
What is capoeira?
A fight that learned to dance.
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art that mixes fight, dance, acrobatics and live music. Enslaved Africans in Brazil created it and hid their training inside what looked like a game.
Today it's played in a circle called the roda, to the sound of the berimbau. It builds strength, rhythm, confidence and a lot of friends.
- BodyStrength & balance
- MindMusic, language, math
- LifeConfidence & respect
Why we're here
Every kid deserves a place to put their energy, and people who show up for them.
Since 2008 we've taught capoeira, music and Brazilian culture to Baltimore kids, mostly ages 7 to 18, in our classes and inside their schools. It's a workout, a history lesson and a Portuguese class at once. Mostly, it's a community that keeps showing up.
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2008
Teaching in Baltimore since
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Number to come
Partner schools
Number from CSP -
Number to come
Students every year
Number from CSP
Programs
More than kicks and cartwheels.
Capoeira is the center. Around it: the music, the dances, the instruments and the history that come with it.
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Capoeira classes
Kids, teens and adults. Fundamentals for beginners, style classes for everyone.
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Music & percussion
No roda without music. Learn the rhythms, sing the songs, pick up some Portuguese.
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Maculelê
An Afro-Indigenous stick-fighting dance from Bahia. Loud, fast and very popular with kids.
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Samba de roda & Os Cocos
Circle dances from northeast Brazil, built on call-and-response singing and hand drums.
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Instrument making & visual arts
Students build the instruments they play, then decorate them.
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Schools, lectures & workshops
We bring the roda to classrooms, campuses and festivals. Yes, there's a math-in-capoeira lecture.
Everyone plays. Everyone sings. Everyone belongs in the circle.
Classes & schedule
Find a roda near you.
Classes run one hour. Wear clothes you can move in and bring water. Beginners start in Fundamentals.
UpstateRochester, NY
Roc Pole & Fitness
485 Spencerport Rd, Rochester, NY- Wed 7:00Capoeira Regional
- Tue/Wed 5:45Handstands & mobility
- Tue 7:00Flexi bootcamp
Workshops, rodas & events
Our full calendar of classes, guest workshops and community rodas lives here.
Join
Try one free. Then pick how you train.
Pay per class, grab a pass, or go monthly. Every payment also funds our youth programs.
Drop in
1 Class Pass
$20 per class, market rate
Good for trying a style or visiting from out of town.
Buy 1 classMost flexible
10 Class Pass
$— for 10 classes
Price from CSPTrain on your own schedule. Use it at any class, any week.
Buy 10 classesBest for regulars
Monthly membership
$— / month, unlimited
Price from CSPCome as often as you like. Recurring dues keep the lights on in the new studio.
Start membership
Sliding scale, always.
- Comunitário for students and tight budgets
- Market fair rate
- Angel helps fund a kid's spot
Coming soon
We're building a home for the roda.
After years of borrowed gyms and church basements, CSP is building its own studio in Baltimore. A permanent place for classes, music, instrument making and after-school programs. Grants got us started. Neighbors will get us finished.
Placeholder figures
History
Four hundred years in one circle.
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1600s
Zumbi dos Palmares
Leader of Palmares, the largest community of people who escaped slavery in Brazil. Capoeira remembers him as a symbol of resistance.
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1930s
Mestre Bimba
Opened the first official capoeira academy in Salvador and created the Regional style, bringing capoeira out of hiding.
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1940s
Mestre Pastinha
Protected and taught the traditional Angola style. "Capoeira is everything the mouth eats."
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1970s
New York City
Brazilian mestres teaching in NYC met a young breaking scene. You can still see capoeira in b-boy footwork.
Book us
Bring capoeira to your school, campus or event.
We've led workshops along the East Coast and in Brazil since 2006. One hour or a full week, we'll build it around you.
Workshops
Hands-on capoeira, music and instrument building for groups of any size.
Cultural presentations
Performances and talks for K-12, universities and adult audiences.
Translation
Portuguese and English, from people who live in both.
Movement coaching
Mobility, handstands and flexibility for athletes, dancers and the curious.
Book a workshop
Most workshops work out to less than $25 per person.
Keep a kid in the roda.
Your gift covers class fees, instruments and uniforms for kids who couldn't otherwise join. Capoeira Social Project is a nonprofit, so it's tax-deductible too.