Welcome to Group Senzala Oxford

Capoeira is a unique and original art form born in Brazil. This dance-based martial art developed from a variety of influences, including native West African dances. Capoeira was used by African slaves to help them maintain and develop their own cultural identity and to fight oppression.

Capoeira is a game, a dance, and a fight, governed by the ruthless rhythm of the berimbau, a native African musical instrument. Capoeira developed all over Brazil, in the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco, surviving attempts to stamp out its practice. Traditional capoeira masters such as Mestre Pastinha (Capoeira Angola) and Mestre Bimba (Capoeira Regional) made important contributions to the art, developing more standardised styles; Angola and Regional.

Group Senzala was created in 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, the group fused Angola and Regional styles of Capoeira, with Senzala members visiting Bahia to train with the influential Mestres Bimba and Pastinha, whilst at the same time developing this new style of play. Group Senzala grew and spread over different continents to become one of the most respected Capoeira schools in the world.

The Capoeira group reached the shores of the UK in 1989, under the guidance of Mestre Gato, one of the founder members of Group Senzala. Under the guidance of Mestre Peixinho (Brazil) and Mestre Steen (Denmark), the Oxford branch of Group Senzala holds Capoeira classes twice a week in Oxford, lead by Professor Piriquito.