Afro-Brazilian Ensemble

Fabiano Aparecido Lucas was born in Braganca, Paulista, a small town in the interior of Sao Paulo, on April 30,1980. Coming from a very poor family of three kids and a single mom, Fabiano had to start working at age 11 in order to help support his family. He always had a passion for sports and tried a lot of different ones (always by charity of others), like Judo, soccer, basketball and break dance. It was during his time break dancing that he incidentally discovered his love for capoeira.

His future mestre, Mestre Enir, one day invited Fabiano’s entire break dancing group, which up until then practiced on the streets, to come to his academy on the weekends for practice. After their first weekend practice there, Mestre Enir invited Fabiano and a friend to try capoeira for a month, free of charge. Fabiano accepted this offer with the intention to go a few times, practice back-flips, which he could use for his break dancing, and then stop. Things would turn out to be quite different. When he saw his first capoeira roda, it was love at first sight. He started practicing capoeira in 1993 and hasn’t stopped since.

Fabiano is the two-time regional capoeira champion (1999 and 2002) of the state of Sao Paulo and also the 2002 state champion. This qualified him to represent his state in the national championships, but before he had a chance to compete, he was invited by Mestre Efraim to come to the United States to work as a performer and capoeira teacher. He accepted this invitation and came to the United States in February of 2003. Various performances have taken him to: California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. He has performed at the Museum of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Connecticut National Coast Guard, Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino Resorts.

He has taught capoeira at Yale University, University of Connecticut Norwalk Community College and a variety of other schools in the tri state area. Currently, he is working in partnership with his friend Ja Shaia on a Capoeira Fitness video, in order to offer a convenient way for beginners to discover the incredible world of capoeira and its infinite variety of benefits for those who welcome capoeira into their lives.