Jelon Vieira Capoeira

Introduced to Capoeira at the age of ten, Mestre Jelon Vieira went on to study the Afro-Brasilian art form with masters like Mestre Bobô and Mestre Eziquiel. Born in Bahia, Brasil, Mestre Jelon Vieira arrived in the United States in the 1975 and in 1977, founded DanceBrazil, a company of contemporary dance and Afro-Brazilian that has performed throughout the world. He went on to establish the  Capoeira Foundation in the 1980s to promote and preserve Afro-Brazilian cultural forms and in 2000 was recognized by the Brazilian Cultural Center in New York City for being the “Pioneer of Capoeira in the United States.” In April 2007, Mestre Jelon Vieira founded Capoeira Luanda, an organization that practices, teaches, and preserves the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira and has since spread internationally with centers and academies in ten countries. A world renowned teacher of Capoeira and choreographer, Mestre Jelon Vieira has taught at various colleges and in 2008 received the Lifetime Honors National Heritage Fellowship from National Endowment for Art at the White House in Washington, D.C.