Henrique Anastácio de Jesus was born in Itabuna, Bahia, and came to Rio de Janeiro in his teens in the mid-1970s. He received an introduction to capoeira in Itabuna, his hometown, and in Rio he started practicing with M. Canela, in Engenho Novo. Then he trained with M. Peixinho da Senzala, from whom he received a red belt. In the 1990s he became interested in capoeira angola, initially having M. Angolinha as reference. As part of this research he did some work with the old guard of capoeira Angola, in particular M. Gato Preto, M. Boca Rica, M. Bigodinho and M. Felipe (all from Bahia), which resulted in the recording of three CDs featuring these masters, in addition to the recordings of the group itself (“Marrom e alunos”).
Today he is the caretaker of the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Ngoma.
Access the group’s Facebook page here: