A Vacation for You,
A Smile to a Child
Our next tour:
Dec. 6 to Dec. 16
ABOUT US
Mestre Eclilson de Jesus: Capoeira Master with over 35 years of experience, Mestre Eclilson was born in Recife, located in the Brazilian State of Pernambuco. He started training Capoeira when he was only 10 years old after randomly seeing a roda* in the street. (*a public performance were participants form a circle and take turns in joining the centre. Some may just prefer to watch and encourage participants while others may decide to perform several times).
What started to be a genuine enthusiasm in the eyes of a 10-year-old child for a local sport performed in a street of Recife, Northern Brazil, quickly became a real passion. Over 45 years later with thousands hours of training, performing and teaching Capoeira Martial Art throughout North America and Brazil, today Mestre de Jesus is widely acknowledged as one of the most inspiring and dedicated Capoeira Master teacher in Canada.
If we had to pick up just two words to describe Mestre’s personality without any doubt it would be: humbleness and dedication. When it comes to Capoeira Martial Art, Mestre has a special philosophy in mind developed around sharing, humility and respect regardless of each other social background or origins. Originally he was willing to gather generations of all ages around a common passion, a martial art, slowly creating a small community where everyone would meet to train releasing stress, forgetting all kind of worries and to simply enjoy each other’s company and laughs. Over the years, Capoeira Aché Brasil Academy has welcomed hundreds of students, most of whom have been coming for years now.
When Mestre de Jesus is asked what he is the most proud of regarding the school, you would hear him explain that at times, some of the people who joined the academy were a bit lost or confused in their respective lives but through the school and its classes, not only did they discover an amazing art but also they found some sort of family where people support each other out either within or outside the school.
Despite the geographical distance between Vancouver, BC, and his hometown Recife, Brazil, Mestre de Jesus always remained close to his roots and family whom, for the most part, are still living in Recife.
Although he kept on sharing anecdotes with his students regarding the Brazilian behaviours and habits, he felt that bringing a group of students with him to his Brazilian hometown could give them a real grasp of the local culture and lifestyle. In 1996 his wish became true when for the first time, a group of Capoeira students from the Vancouver Academy went down to Brazil with Mestre and his wife Christianne. It was the perfect opportunity to show his Canadian students where he grew up and how capoeira is taught and perceived in northern Brazil.
The first tour was a real success and all students came back to Canada regenerated and full of new memories they would keep talking about over and over and over…From then on, Mestre and his wife Christianne decided to regularly organize tours to Brazil for their Canadian Capoeira students. The groups were always fairly small (between 12 to 15 people) as they were willing to give them the chance to be introduced to this inspiring culture where, even the people who do not have much, keep on smiling and tend to always see the brighter side of life.
In 2006 Mestre de Jesus went even closer to his Brazilian roots when he and his wife Christianne Odenhal decided to purchase a local house in Porto de Galinhas – a small town near Mestre’s hometown Recife – and to transform it into an inn. They used to always bring the students to Porto de Galinhas and each time, the groups would keep on saying how much they love the town and its surrounding area. So when Mestre and his wife started to look for a place to purchase in Brazil, it soon became obvious for them to buy one in this adorable city. For some reasons, it often feels that life is in slower motion there, and people can simply take time to relax and enjoy the natural beauty.
Christianne Odehnal: Proud daughter of a Czech mum and a Brazilian dad, Christianne was born and brought up in Sao Paulo, one of the biggest cities in the world. When she was 13, her mom re-married a Czech man living in Canada and soon after the whole family moved to Chilliwack, BC. Although it took the whole family some time to adjust to the drastically new lifestyle and culture in Canada, Christianne remembers her childhood as a period of time filled with joyful moments and lovely encounters. Nevertheless, she always remained Brazilian at heart and no matter how far she was from Brazil; she kept close bonds to her roots there and still does until today.
When she is not at the academy coordinating schedules, planning students’ belts ceremonies and well, just really handling all the administrative tasks at the Aché Brasil Academy and shows, you will find her mediating and spending quality time with her loved ones. She is the proud mother of two beautiful and successful daughters and the caring “Vovó”* (Portuguese for granny) of two marvellous bundles of joy: an adorable little man and a gorgeous – only weeks old – baby girl.
She is also the coordinator and planner behind all the tours performed by Aché Brasil throughout Canada and abroad. Ever since the very beginning, Christianne has been deeply involved in the academy, not only to take care of all the administrative tasks of the school but above all for the social aspects around it. Students like to pop up to her office and simply talk with her about their life, their worries, their projects or just to share a good laugh with her. Indeed she is a confident for many Capoeira students at the Vancouver Academy and she likes to organize activities outside the school hours so as to bring people together and share great times with everyone.
When Mestre and her decided in the year 2006 to embark on a new adventure buying an inn in Porto de Galinhas, she knew it would be both demanding and time consuming. Yet she knew even more that it would also mean to be closer to her Brazilian roots. Besides, at that time Mestre and her were already bringing Capoeira students from their Vancouver studio with them to Brazil on a yearly basis. Although they visited Porto while lodging in Recife, students always wished they got to stay longer in Porto de Galinhas. So indeed, having their own inn on site to greet the students was all the more relevant for this project, so now students could really benefit from the tour lodging in a beautiful paradise.
It took them months to refurbish, transform and customize the place, today known as Pousada Violeta (www.pousadavioleta.com) into a warm and relaxing place for visitors. To them, it symbolises their Brazilian little piece of heaven and they are always delighted to receive guests and visitors there.
Capoeira Aché Brasil is not just one school with a definite number of students but a group of several schools located around the world. Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia…the list is long and the connections are numerous (not to mention the always growing number of students).
Every year, Mestre and Christianne bring capoeiristas* (name given to Capoeira practitioners) from Brazil to Canada so that they can perform in special shows with them. Despite the difficult administrative work it often represents they are always excited and happy to do so as they never stop learning from their new encounters – not just in regards to the physical performances of the students but more especially for the human dimension behind it.
Amongst all the schools they are regularly in touch with, several capoeira classes are given in different locations in the Pernambuco State of Brazil and as one may imagine the facilities on site are often quite limited. Some of the kids come from families with very low financial means where out of school activities are considered as a luxury.
During their regular trips to Brazil, Christianne and Mestre de Jesus bring along dozens of items (such as kids and adults clothing, toys, toiletries, pens and papers…) in their luggage so as to give them to underprivileged Brazilians living in favelas. They also raise funds via an annual show performed at the Vancouver Academy where everyone is free to participate (either to dance, to sing a song, to read a poem, or really for any artistic performance they want to share). At the end of the night the amount of money collected is either allocated to help a Canadian Capoeira student join the Brazil Tour with the other students at very low costs or used to purchase equipment, uniforms, transportation (sometimes medication) for capoeira students in Brazil. Usually traveling students are also excited to bring one extra luggage with as much stuff as possible to Brazilians in need. And for those who cannot join the tour, around 2 months before the tour departure date the academy has empty boxes near the entrance of the school where anyone is invited to bring material donations. The system has been implemented for several years now and never failed to meet a certain success and enthusiasm from both capoeira students and their families.
Nevertheless, after their last tour to Brazil with capoeira students in 2014, Mestre and Christianne felt the urge to do something more for young Brazilian Capoeiristas whose growing passion for the martial art was sometimes challenged by financial difficulties.
Although Capoeira teachers on site try to accommodate as many kids as they can – driven by their will to teach this art, their passion – at the end of the day they still need to pay for expenses as well as earning a salary to support themselves. Payments methods are often very flexible to give families enough time to organize and plan their budget but despite Brazilian teachers’ wishes to keep the martial art at the center of the schools’ basis, for some families capoeira lessons are more than a luxury; they are simply unaffordable. It is all the more difficult to witness when kids have a natural gift and a genuine enthusiasm for the martial art.
Mestre de Jesus and his wife Christianne have long time been aware of the situation and their involvement in local communities were their way to help kids and families on site. Yet, it was during Mestre’s last trip to the State of Pernambuco that he realized more could be done.
His positive energy, his never-ending will to share about the Brazilian culture and lifestyle and his even bigger wish to help out local Brazilian Capoeira schools made him realize he would like to try something new. From there, the project to open Tours to the public adding a sponsorship dimension to them, started to grow deeper and deeper in his mind. Besides, Mestre and his wife would always have amazing response from the Tours’ participants who kept telling them that they should offer this to everyone in Canada and abroad.
After sharing his thoughts with Christianne they came up with the idea that for each customer who would join the Tour, a young Brazilian capoeirista would be sponsored (both for clothing and lessons) and thus for a full year of Capoeira training.
Of course the Tours are not just about discovering Capoeira and helping young capoeiristas on site to keep following and believing in their passion. Indeed, everyday participants will be taken to new places to do different activities so that they also get to learn more and experience as much as possible the Brazilian lifestyle and culture. This being said, because Brazil is a particularly big country with lots of different ethnical and socio-cultural backgrounds it would be presumptuous to state that customers would get “to see all and experience everything about Brazil”. Nevertheless, due to their great knowledge of the different sites and numerous acquaintances in Northern Brazil, it is without doubt that Christianne and Mestre are the best tour leaders for this trip. Not only are they both particularly enthusiastic about Brazil in general, its people, its history and its culture but they are also all about meeting and sharing with new people. So if you feel like having some change of sceneries, join them, you will not regret your decision.
Not just one studio in one unique location but several academies around the world! Our main studio Capoeira Aché Brasil is located in Vancouver, BC, Canada but our connections are worldwide.
The Vancouver Capoeira Aché Brasil Academy opened its doors in 1999 and ever since has met a tremendous success locally. People from all backgrounds meet to embrace the culture behind this Brazilian martial art acrobatic dance but also simply to share great times with one another.
Contrary to the quite common received idea, Capoeira is not a combat sport but a real art form whose origins are deeply connected to the Brazilian history and culture. It is a combination of music, songs, dances and complex acrobatic figures and self-defence tactics where Capoeira performers* (also commonly named Capoeiristas) executes breathtaking kicks and complex jumps without actually touching each other. Capoeira is also a lot about rhythm, performers cheer up (clap, sing, encourage…) and support each other because in the end the idea is not to defeat your partners but just to “play a game” (called “Jogo”) with them.
If you stop by our Vancouver Capoeira Aché Brasil Academy you may be surprised to discover the age range of the students there. It is a mix of all generations, from 4 onwards up to 60 years of age and beyond (but we are not going to release names :p). Of course students are split in group levels but during the weekly roda* (Portuguese for circle) event, all students are invited to gather in a circle to perform, sing and/or play music instruments regardless of their age or capoeira level.
Beside Capoeira martial art, we also teach samba and Brazilian music (mostly percussions used during the Capoeira and Samba shows).
Of course, our studio would not be the same without our dedicated and inspiring teachers. On top of our Mestre we have a group of very experienced and true passionate Capoeira instructors, most of whom were former capoeiristas in our Vancouver Academy who trained for years before making the jump from “Capoeira Student” to “Capoeira Instructor”. For most of them teaching Capoeira goes beyond the art itself but is more related to all the aspects around it (human, social and so on). Our teachers are aware that in the eyes of numerous young capoeristas they represent role models and confidants. Those were always the most important values Christianne and Mestre de Jesus were willing to operate by when they opened the Vancouver Capoeira Aché Brasil Academy. And it goes without saying that all the Capoeira Instructors on site teach the students according to these same values.
For more info and videos regarding our Vancouver Capoeira Academy Aché Brasil please visit our website: http://achebrasil.ca/aboutcapoeira/
