Grupo Axé Capoeira - Trinidad & Tobago
Grupo Axé Capoeira came to Trinidad in 2002 when Azulão came back from St. Croix after a workshop with Menino. He pursued Mestre Barrão via email for a while before one day he was invited to St. Croix. On his return, he brought a new, ever-evolving capoeira to the island.With only a handful of students, he started to teach Mestre Barrão's philosophy and approach to capoeira. Though the transition was difficult for the students, they were dedicated to mastering it and soon the school began to grow.
Starting off in Barataria, the school soon aquired a location in UWI, St. Augustine, to train. From there, the school began to get more recognition as many UWI students would see it on their way to and from class.
In 2004, there was a milestone. Mestre Barrão came to Trinidad with his two sons to conduct the school's first Batizado e Troca de Corda - the grading ceremony. This was held in the "Emancipation Village" in the Queen's Park Savannah during the annual Emancipation Celebrations. Spectators from around the country were privileged enough to witness this auspicious event.
In 2007, the local school hosted its second Batizado e Troca de Corda in La Joya Auditorium, this time playing host to Mestre Barrão and Mestre Boi. This time, it was a paid event, but the auditorium was still over crowded. There were people standing in the aisles.
More recently, through teaming up with The Barcam, a drama and theatre productions company and a sponsor of the local branch of Grupo Axé, classes were started in Speyside, Tobago, making it truly a national branch of the school.
Mr. Selvyn Lewis, CEO of The Barcam, has been working with Azulão for a number of years to promote the school throughout the country and, in fact, the region. A team visited Guyana to do a series of demonstrations during Carifesta, thus solidifying Grupo Axé Capoeira as the leading capoeira school in the Caribbean.
The school currently has approximately 60 students and boasts a demonstration team of approximately 10 students. All students in the team except one (chosen for his exceptional proficiency) have the rank Crua/Azul or higher (the highest being the local tutor, Azulão, who is Marrom). The school is currently working on having its own academy where students can train at any time that they choose.
