André Luiz Lacé Lopes (Paraná, 1938) grew up in Rio de Janeiro, where he graduated as a journalist and administrator. With a master’s degree from Syracuse University in New York, he is the author of six books and over three hundred articles and chronicles on Administration, Popular Culture and Sport in general. He has participated in several literary collections, with award-winning poems and short stories. André initially learned capoeira from Hermanny and Sinhozinho in the late 1950s, then with Neider Alves and finally with Artur Emídio. He became a capoeira teacher himself in the early sixties. He was editor and producer of Radio Roquette Pinto, and responsible for a weekly broadcast on capoeira. He organised capoeira events and took over posts at the Capoeira Department in the Brazilian Boxing Federation. He also served as Flamengo’s administrative superintendent, director of the OAS Youth Affairs Office, IBAM technical advisor and university lecturer.
