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The history of the Ukrainian Senzala group starts in October 2000 with a workshop led by professor Rui, the first native-born Brazilian capoeira teacher, who visited Ukraine. Since that time, Ukrainian capoeiristas got a mentor and curator from Brazil, and the branch of Senzala school became the first officially recognized branch of the Brazilian school of capoeira in Ukraine.
In the spring of 2001 in Brazil, professor Rui received the degree of contra mestre (the last stage before the highest level of capoeira - mestre) and became one of the youngest holders of this rank.
In the autumn of the same year, in October, several students of the Ukrainian group travelled to Copenhagen (Denmark) and took part in the ceremony of batizado organized by contra mestre Rui and the head of the school - mestre Beto. After certification they received their belts in accordance with the level they had reached in capoeira, as well as formal recognition of becoming full members of the Senzala school.
In November 2001 one more section of the school was opened in Kiev.
In October 2002 a second workshop with contra mestre Rui and his students from Denmark was led in Kiev. The event brought together more than 50 people from different cities of Ukraine and Russia. As an honoured guest the second secretary of the Brazilian Embassy in Ukraine, Mr. Duval Barros was invited.
In autumn 2004 a historically important workshop with contra mestre Rui and instructora Vida was held, during which the Odessa group joins the school.
By the end of the year the Senzala branch in Ukraine consisted already of three sections in Kiev and one section in Odessa.
In 2005 several workshops with the best students of contra mestre Rui - instructors Segonha, Dorado, Vida - were organized.
In 2006, in January the public organization "Centre for Development of Brazilian culture" - the official representative of the school "Senzala de Capoeira" in Ukraine - was registered.
In May of the same year within the First Festival of Brazilian Culture the first ceremony of batizado of the Ukrainian Senzala group took part. This event was the result of years of training and continuous preparation of our capoeiristas. In workshops and master classes led by masters actively involved were more than 120 people from Ukraine, Russia, Denmark and Brazil. The final of the festival was an enchanting Brazilian party with the best dance and performance art groups in Kiev: the school of salsa "Cubano Boom", the theatre of fire "Sham", Quicksilver-man, etc. On the whole, the festival brought together over 500 participants and guests.
In autumn 2006, in October one more workshop under the guidance of masters and teachers from Brazil and Europe was held.
In October 2007, the first time in the seven years of existence of the Ukrainian group, the head of the school "Senzala de Capoeira" - mestre Beto - visited Kiev. During his visit, in addition to the workshop on capoeira was also organized a presentation of the movie "Capoeira - the energy of the circle". To the presentation of the joint project of the "Centre for Development of Brazilian Culture" and the TV channel Megasport - the first movie about capoeira, which was filmed in Ukraine - in the Kiev House of Cinema came more than 650 people. After the film was demonstrated the viewers had the opportunity to watch the live capoeira show with the participation of masters from Brazil, to listen to an interview with the director of the film and to ask questions to the creators of the project.
In May 2008 instructor Segonha and professor Muganga gave a seminar for the Ukrainian Senzala branch. Within it, apart from capoeira, a master class in Brazilian jiu-jitsu was introduced.
In November 2008, the Second Festival of Brazilian Culture, as well as the ceremony of batizado took part. The event involved all the branches of the Senzala school in Ukraine. Furthermore, groups from Lvov and Krivoy Rog were officially accepted to the school. At the attestation ceremony trainers of the Kiev and Odessa groups received degrees of instructors. In general, more than 300 people participated in the festival.
In May 2009 in Kiev the first Ukraine Senzala Meeting was organized. It gathered capoeiristas from Kiev, Odessa, Lvov, Krivoy Rog and Simferopol. Due to a large number of positive reviews the practice of holding such events was decided to be continued in the future.
In August, the curator of the Ukrainian Senzala branch, Rui, received a red belt of mestre - the symbol of the highest skill degree in the Senzala school.
In October in Kiev a workshop with mestre Rui and his students - professors Segonha and Freja - was held.
In November a group of Ukrainian capoeiristas from Senzala took part in the Week of Brazilian Culture in Belgrade (Serbia). For now, the event is truly the most ambitious one which was ever organized by the Senzala school in Europe: it managed to gather more than 30 Brazilian capoeira masters and teachers of highest level.
Nowadays, our Senzala branch continues to grow and evolve dynamically. And each day with their work and successes its students and trainers continue the story of capoeira in Ukraine.
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