Welcome to La Peña! Promoting social justice & intercultural understanding through the arts since 1975.
NOTE: THIS CLASS IS TEMPORARILY ON STAND-BY. Stay tuned for updates!
Youth of ages 7-17 of all cultural backgrounds are welcome to participate in this class! You don’t need to know how to play and you don’t have to speak Spanish to attend and enjoy this class. You just need to have a love for music and the desire to learn to play and sing Mexican & Latin American traditional music.
On these classes you will learn the basics of various Afro-Peruvian dance and percussion styles, incorporating the rhythms, patterns, steps and movements of these musical traditions. No previous experience needed!
Instructors: Gabriela Shiroma and Peta Robles
Saturdays,
– Dance: 10:30am – 11:30am / 11:30am – 12:30pm
– Percussion: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
IMPORTANT: Classes schedule are subject to change per teacher’s discretion. We encourage you to please contact the teacher directly for the most updated classes schedule and information. To register to this class for the first time, click on the class below and contact the instructor directly.
In 2022, we debuted this monthly community dance party called BAILA! because there was a need to create an inclusive space of belonging and community-building for folks of all backgrounds, ages, cultures and genders to enjoy salsa, bachata & other ritmos tropicales. And all while supporting our local musicians, dance teachers and grassroots organizations!
This event happens every third Friday of the month and it goes from 7:30pm to 1:00am. It includes all levels Salsa & Bachata classes, two rooms for dancing, a live salsa band, a fundraising bar, and delicious Mexican food!
We are grateful for all the teachers, artists, organizations and cultural workers that we’ve partnered with through BAILA: you all have made this project truly inspiring and transformative! And, of course, a big shout-out to our event staff and volunteers that work hard every month to make this event a success. Thank you for your enthusiasm and love for our community!
See details of our upcoming BAILA! below. You can get your tickets in advance at bit.ly/bailaparty or you can also sign up to volunteer at bit.ly/bailavolunteer and come for FREE!
Son Jarocho is a community music that reflects the cycle of life in its poetic lyrics. Classes at La Peña focus instruction on jarana jarocha, singing (including poetry), and percussion (including zapateado dance), although all son jarocho instruments are welcomed. Emphasis is placed on learning basic rhythms that are the keys to the majority of the sones jarochos and working together in music to understand “how all the parts fit together”. Join us in this community building experience to build our resilience against the ever increasing stresses of our urban lifestyle.
IMPORTANT: Classes schedule are subject to change per teacher’s discretion. We encourage you to please contact the teacher directly for the most updated classes schedule and information. To register to this class for the first time, click on the class below and contact the instructor directly.
Capoeira Angola with Grupo de Capoeira Balanço de Angola
Wednesdays, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
In person at La Peña Cultural Center
**FREE Community Class on the last Wednesday of every month!**
(Please scroll down to see class schedule)
Come experience the spirit, music, and movement of Capoeira Angola with Grupo de Capoeira Balanço de Angola! We begin our class with one hour of music followed by one hour of movement class. Our classes are open to all levels, especially those who have never tried capoeira before. Please dress in comfortable pants, a T-shirt you can tuck in, and sneakers . Our group trains under the instruction and leadership of Contramestre Sergio Ferreira and Contramestre Daniel Mattar and receives orientation from Mestre Moraes, founder of the Grupo Capoeira Angola of Pelourinho (GCAP) in Salvador, Brazil.
IMPORTANT:
For questions and pricing, please contact balancodangola@gmail.com or check instagram for announcements @nbda_angola
WHAT TO EXPECT:
We begin our class with one hour of music practice. Our instructors and your classmates will help you learn the rhythm, songs, and instruments of capoeira angola, including the 3 types of berimbaus (gunga, medio, and viola), the atabaque drum, the pandeiro, the agogô and the reco-reco. We sing capoeira angola songs in Brazilian Portuguese, so it’s a great way to learn or practice Portuguese! After music class, we do an hour of movement class, where we warm up our bodies then practice capoeira moves and sequences, both individually and two by two. Finally we end class by playing games together. Capoeira games are a great way to be present with your body, creating a spontaneous dialogue with your opponent inside the “roda,” or “ring”.
GRUPO DE CAPOEIRA NO BALANÇO D’ANGOLA (NBDA):
NBDA is a capoeira angola group based in Berkeley and West Oakland founded by Contramestre Sergio Ferreira in 2015. Our group receives orientation from Mestre Moraes, founder of the Grupo Capoeira Angola of Pelourinho (GCAP) in Salvador, Brazil. Mestre Moraes is a PhD candidate at the Federal University of Bahia Brazil, a Grammy nominated musician, and a student of Mestre Pastinha, the father of capoeira angola, as well as a student of Mestre João Grande.
Our group name, No Balanço D’Angola translates to “in the Angola rhythm.” We are honored to have been meeting at La Peña since our group’s founding. We believe La Peña’s spirit of resistance and community building provides the perfect atmosphere to practice the tradition of Capoeira Angola in Berkeley. Follow us at @nbda_angola
ABOUT CAPOEIRA ANGOLA:
Capoeira angola, a martial art and ritual combat dance, is one of the major expressions of an African, specifically Kongo-Angolan, continuum in Brazil. It is believed that its origins may go as far back as the 16th century, when Africans from western Central Africa were enslaved and taken to Brazil, specifically Salvador and the surrounding Recôncavo region.
In its history and practice, capoeira angola reflects the philosophy and aesthetics of its origins. Similar to many traditional African traditions, there are no clear-cut distinctions between the sacred and secular, work and play, fight and fun. Capoeira angola integrates music, movement, theatrics, play, martial arts, philosophy, and spirituality. In the past, Capoeira angola has been passed down from master (“Mestre”) to student orally.
Our group’s Mestre, Mestre Moraes, describes Capoeira Angola’s philosophy as the following: “The capoeira ring, whose geometric form facilitates the propagation of energy, is one of the symbolic representations of the ‘macro’ world. The movements we make inside this ring symbolise the adversities we encounter in life, which we often don’t know how to deal with. In the game of life, our opponents, in most cases, know nothing of capoeira, but have movements peculiar to their own game, which we should be able to interpret and understand in their context, taking the capoeira ring as a point of reference. Playing in the ring, we succeed in establishing a fusion between playful elements and respect for the other person. But the ring isn’t reality: the world is. If we win in this ring, we can take the other one too!”
INSTRUCTORS:
Contramestre Sergio Ferreira is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil and received the title of Contramestre in 2021. He began training Capoeira Angola at age 11, first with Mestre Baiano, then with Mestre Dois de Ouro from whom he learned the art of making berimbaus. At age 16, he joined GCAP Belo Horizonte under the leadership of Mestre Leo and Mestre Rene. In 2003, he helped found the group Camujerê together with Mestre Rene, Treinel Jorge, and the late Ezequiel Emilio. Three years after moving to the Bay Area, he founded the No Balanço D’Angola group (NBDA) in 2015.
Contra Mestre Daniel Mattar is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and received the title of Contramestre in 2019. He began seriously practicing Capoeira Angola at age 23, first with Mestre Marrom in Rio. He practiced at FICA in West Oakland from 2002 to 2020, first studying under Mestre Rogerio then serving as lead instructor with Mestre Jurandir’s guidance for more than a decade. Contramestre Daniel joined NBDA in 2020.
Both Contramestre Sergio and Contramestre Daniel work as deckhands, proudly continuing the tradition of capoeiristas with maritime careers.