History of the Group

History of Fica Oakland

Mestre Rogerio

Mestre Rogerio Teber founded the Oakland group of the International Capoeira Angola Foundation (ICAF) in 1997. He is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he studied Capoeira from 1985 to 1996 with Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho (GCAP) under Mestre Manoel Lopes. Since joining the ICAF in 1997, he has worked closely with Mestre Cobra Mansa, founder of the ICAF, Mestre Jurandir, the leader of the west coast branch and Mestre Valmir, the leader of the Brazilian branch in Bahia.

In 2003 Mestre Rogerio left Oakland and moved back to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he is building yet another amazing group of angoleiros and angoleiras. In 2013 Rogerio Teber received the title of Mestre at the FICA International Conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Mestre Rogerio left ICAF in 2018 and started grupo ECA Renascer, with groups in Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and Xalapa, Mexico.

Contra Mestre Daniel

Daniel Mattar is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he was introduced to capoeira in 1994. In 1999 he began to train intensively with Mestre Marrom. In 2002, Daniel moved to California and joined the International Capoeira Angola Foundation (ICAF). Together with Mestre Rogerio, Daniel helped to build the two spaces for capoeira Angola in West Oakland. In 2007 Daniel received the title of Treinel in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2019 he received the title of Contra Mestre at Kilombo Tenonde, both during the biennial ICAF/FICA conferences. Along with CM Andrea, Daniel was the leader of the ICAF Oakland group under the guidance of Mestre Jurandir.
CM Daniel left ICAF in 2020.