Our Team

Mestre Bola

Capoeira Camará founder Mestre Bola (Marinaldo Da Silva) was born in Olinda, Pernambuco – a thriving centre of Afro-Brazilian culture with a long-standing Capoeira tradition. He began training with a top Capoeira Master in 1988. Initially, Bola moved to Vancouver in 1995 where he taught Capoeira for some time, but then relocated to Toronto in 2000 to open an academy. In 2005 he founded Capoeira Camará.

Now Mestre Bola travels all over the world teaching and playing Capoeira. During the pandemic he moved his teaching online, providing classes and workshops to students daily.  As an accomplished musician Mestre Bola plays in ensembles regularly, and has produced numerous successful shows celebrating Brasilian music and culture. In 2021, Mestre Bola released his first album of original Capoeira songs titled Capoeira Camará.

Overall, Mestre Bola has been promoting Brazilian culture and Capoeira for over 30 years.Mestre Bola’s Capoeira expertise and leadership have also earned him international recognition. And, on numerous occasions, major media in Canada, Europe and Brazil exclusively have interviewed him.

Professor Chaveco

Professor Chaveco (Ernandes Monteiro) has been part of the Capoeira community for over 40 years, traveling throughout Brasil, Europe and North America to play and teach the art form.  He led his own schools in Brasil and Toronto before joining Camarà in 2008. He now leads the Toronto Academy, bringing his wealth of experience and love of Capoeira to every class and Roda.

Professor Chaveco began training Capoeira at the age of 7 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. By the age of 14 he was traveling to Europe to take part in performances showcasing Brasilian art and culture. He settled in Italy for a year to teach Capoeira, before returning home to Recife to both teach and train with world renowned Mestres.

Within a few years Professor Chaveco opened his first capoeira school in Recife and shortly after, won fifth place in a national Capoeira competition after winning second at the regional level. After moving to Canada 2005, he opened another school in Toronto, before reuniting with childhood friend Mestre Bola, and joining Capoeira Camarà. 

Professor Chaveco also performs regularly as a musician and capoeirista at festival and events far and wide.

Professor Saci

Professor Saci (Stais Armstrong) was born and currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is of Jamaican-Canadian background and he has been training various martial arts since 1994. He has attained a 1^st degree black belt in Hapkido and has also cross-trained in Aikido, Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, Kenpo Karate and Wrestling. He discovered capoeira in 2000 and was one of Mestre Bola’s first students. 

Professor Saci also has a percussion background of almost 20 years and has been playing percussion with Mestre Bola in various bands for over 10 years.  They continue to perform in many capoeira & percussion shows nationwide and abroad. Professor Saci has participated in many capoeira events worldwide and in 2009, he won 1^st place Advanced Level  in the Annual US Open Capoeira Tournament in New York.

Monitora Sorriso

Before starting Capoeira, Monitora Sorriso’s athletic background included basketball, soccer, cricket, touch football, and a little bit of karate. Musically, she was in various school bands in grade school and high school. Her exposure to music and sports, including coaching, helped her when she started Capoeira as one of Mestre Bola’s original students when he first started teaching Capoeira back in January 2000. Sorriso was a dedicated student, always training, always available for shows, always learning. In 2003 Sorriso edited the group’s first show to DVD format. However, late in 2005 to early 2006, life outside of Capoeira began to consume more of her time and would eventually squeeze out Capoeira.

Fast forward to December 2015, Sorriso began attending Capoeira classes regularly again, eventually starting up her own classes in December 2019 with Monitora Calada as Camará North. Monitora Sorriso complements her Capoeira training with Olympic Weightlifting.

Monitora Calada

Monitora Calada was one of Mestre Bola’s original students when he first started teaching Capoeira in January 2000. She received her nickname because she barely said anything. In fact, for the first month, she sat at the back of the room and watched the classes, trying to determine if this was something that she wanted to join. Calada eventually became a dedicated student. She was always early for training, mentally preparing for class, and she always had her conga and pandeiro in hand. Calada was also heavily involved in basketball and football. Coaching duties at George Brown College would eventually pull her away from Capoeira.

Calada was very successful as a basketball coach, mentoring student-athletes for many years. During this time she also occupied her time competing in football. So much so that she was the first Canadian player to be inducted into the United States Flag and Touch League (USFTL) Hall of Fame in 2015.

Calada would return to Capoeira in November 2015, eventually starting up her own classes in December 2019 with Monitora Sorriso as Camará North. Calada now enjoys a healthy balance between Capoeira and football.

Monitora Cigana

Monitora Cigana (Elena Sahakyan) was born in Yerevan, Armenia and has lived in Toronto, Canada since 2003.

She started training Capoeira with Mestre Bola in 2008 and completely fell in love with the art form. she has since travelled and participated in Capoeira events around the world including Brazil, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and many cities in the United States and Canada,