Press Release
​CapoeiraDC Celebrates 20 Years with District-Wide Axé Fest
(Washington DC – May 18, 2023) This year marks 20 years since CapoeiraDC was established as a non-profit in Washington, DC. Since then, CapoeiraDC has brought the Afro-Brazilian art form of Capoeira to hundreds youth, adults, and families across DC. To celebrate its 20 years, CapoeiraDC is holding a five-day festival for the public from June 6-10, called Axé Fest.
Axé Fest is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. It kicks off on Tuesday, June 6 with an oral history panel and demo at Sankofa Video Books & Café. On Wednesday, there will be free intro to Capoeira and Samba workshops at The Capoeira Spot. On Thursday, CapoeiraDC will provide an intergenerational demo and workshop for families in Anacostia.
The event culminates Friday with the production Evolução at THEARC Black Box in Anacostia, which takes the audience through Capoeira’s history of freedom fighting from Mother Africa, to Brazil, to DC.
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Scene from 2016 kids performance of Evolução. Photo Credit Koko Lanham
“We want to give kids and families across DC opportunities to see the tools we use to explore creative energies and share the benefits of this art,” says CapoeiraDC Executive Director and Capoeira master, Ren Powell.
Axé Fest ends Saturday, June 10 with an all-day Capoeira encounter convening capoeira students, teachers, and masters from across the country and Brazil. Event details can be found at https://www.capoeiradc.com/20years. Tickets for Evolução can be found on Eventbrite.
CapoeiraDC performing at the 2022 Afro Latino Festival held by the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs at Meridian Hill Park.
CapoeiraDC was founded in 2003 to promote the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira to the DC community. African warriors enslaved in Brazil developed Capoeira to fight for their freedom, and CapoeiraDC grounds its values in that history of liberation. Located at The Capoeira Spot at 2008 Rhode Island NE, CapoeiraDC teaches Capoeira movement, music, history, and culture to kids, teens, and adults of all ages and backgrounds. CapoeiraDC’s vision is to empower the DC community with Capoeira’s art form of liberation for generations to come.