Mestre Nenel
Manoel Nascimento Machado, (Mestre Nenel), was born on September 26, 1960 in the city of Salvador da Bahia. The son of Manoel dos Reis Machado (Mestre Bimba), Berenice da Conceição Nascimento and raised by Alice Maria da Cruz (Mãe Alice). As a young child, Nenel spent many of his days in his father’s capoeira school, the Centro de Cultural Física Regional, graduating in 1967. In 1975, Nenel opened his first academy, the Associação de Capoeira Mestre Bimba Filho, in Brasília, Brazil. Returning to Bahia September 1977, he competed in capoeira championships, playing street capoeira and performing in folkloric shows. In 1984, while teaching in another academy, he had the desire to start an academy that would preserve his father’s legacy and promote his father’s work.On June 10, 1986, he founded the Associação de Capoeira Filhos de Bimba in Salvador da Bahia. In 1998, he changed the school's name to Filhos de Bimba Escola de Capoeira. Mestre Nenel is recognized in Brazil and abroad for his work and as a reference for the techniques and principles of Capoeira Regional.Mestre Nenel is the founder and president of the Fundação Mestre Bimba in the historic Pelourinho neighborhood in Salvador da Bahia. Founded November 30, 1994, the foundation provides capoeira programs and workshops for kids and teens. One of their programs, Projeto Capoerê, offers free capoeira classes to children in low-income neighborhoods in Brazil to keep them away from dangerous situations and teaching life skills and moral conduct. 
Professor Malandro
Professor Malandro has practiced capoeira for over 25 years. He sees capoeira as not just a martial art practice, but his purpose in life. He began his capoeira journey October 1997 at YMCA’s in Detroit, Michigan with Capoeira Mandinga Detroit under the guidance of Barret “Camarada” Leveret. He moved to the Bay Area in 2000 to train with Mestre Marcelo and trained in other capoeira lineages; Angola, Regional and the Mandinga off-shoot, Cordão de Ouro. In 2005, he spent a year in Brazil, training and researching capoeira extensively. There, he was the youngest member of Mandiga to receive the rank of Contra Mestre.In 2012, He left the Mandiga group and started his own group, Mandinga de Escravos. A year later, he officially joined Filhos de Bimba Escola da Capoeira in 2013, dedicating himself to preservation of Mestre Bimba’s legacy and the education of Capoeira Regional. On August 24, 2013, Professor Malandro became formado and received the lençol azul – the blue scarf – after participating in Filhos de Bimba’s Formatura ceremony, becoming the first African American to do so. On August 20, 2016, he became the first American to complete the Especialização I, FdB’s first specialization and received the lençol vermelho – the red scarf.He's taught capoeira throughout the U.S. and abroad across Europe, China, Japan and Mexico. He’s appeared in Marvel’s Black Panther and Marvel’s Avenger: Infinity War, with hopes to expand capoeira in television and film.He founded the newest FdB American chapter, Filhos de Bimba - Atlanta in July 2022. 
Lead Facilitator
Chinwe “Aqualtune” Oniah
Chinwe “Aqualtune” Oniah first became interested in capoeira young playing the video game, Tekken. In December 2019, she took her first capoeira class with Professor Malandro at Filhos de Bimba at the invitation of a friend. She has been training ever since. After a trip to Brazil to train at the Fundação Mestre Bimba, her passion for capoeira took root. She is the lead student facilitator, helping lead classes under the guidance of Professor Malandro.
