Mestre Gaivota:
(David Morgan), has been practicing martial arts since the age of six. After training Tai Kwon Do as a child he took up Shotokan as a teenager. In college he began learning Enshin which is a full contact style of karate. As a Black Belt in Enshin he competed in several bare-knuckle, knock down tournaments and placed in all of them. He was first introduced to Capoeira in 1999 and began teaching classes at the NJ Capoeira Arts Center in 2003.
Gaivota graduated to the level of Instructor in 2005 with Grupo Liberdade de Capoeira and was graduated to Professor in 2007, Contramestre in 2014 & Mestre in 2018 Capoeira Guerreiros. In 2006 Mestre Gaivota opened the Afro Brazilian Cultural Center of New Jersey. During his career in Capoeira, Gaivota has traveled to many countries as well as states sharing his love of the game at Batizados, workshops and events. The Afro Brazilian Cultural Center of New Jersey is dedicated to promoting and teaching Capoeira as a living example of Brazilian folklore and culture.
Professor Pele began training Capoeira in 2003 with Mestre Gaivota. He began teaching for the Afro-Brazilian Cultural Center in Afterschool programs in Newark in 2007. He is currently a full time Capoeira teacher at the Center and responsible for the Capoeira Club at Columbia University.
Randy Brathwaite, Professor Chapa started training Capoeira in 2000 in Bloomfield, N.J. with Mestre Glauber of AU Capoeira. In 2006 he instructed for Parks Theatre in Union City, N.J with the supervision of his Mestre. He is currently teaching for The Afro Brazilian Cultural Center of New Jersey in Montclair & Newark as well as running his own Capoeira studio in Jersey City.
Professor Carcaju (Adam Chase) started training in martial arts in 1990 at the age of 7 in Tae Kwon Do. In March of 2003 Carcaju began training Capoeira in RI with Mestrando Tigri of Grupo Ondas. In 2007 he began training with Mestre Gaivota in Capoeira Guerreiros. Carcaju graduated to Instrutor in 2014 with Mestre Gaivota. He has been teaching at the Afro-Brazilian Cultural Center of New Jersey under Mestre Gaivota since 2014
Andrene Bryan puts a spicy carribean flavor on Zumba making it impossible to not shake every part of your body to the beats. Come and dance(hall) with her in our Saturday Zumba class.
Deborah Ovalles is a dance teacher and personal trainer with a degree in Exercise Science from William Paterson University. She is the Director of the Dynamic Performance Studio which provides an environment to expand, explore, and engaged in health, fitness and dance creativity. So tap into new Dynamics in your life and see what Fits for you.
This is a Legacy Listing for an instructor who left the world of dance too soon.
Ayesha K. Faines is a writer, tech-entrepreneur and dancer based in the greater New York City area. She is the founder of Women Love Power, a digital brand centered around her life mission-- helping women acquire real power by leveraging their unique feminine strengths. A former TV reporter, Ayesha presented the news in both Florida and New York before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Ayesha’s first love is dance. She studied ballet intensively with both the New Jersey School of Ballet and the Dance Theater of Harlem, and performed professional roles before matriculating at Yale University where she received her BA. In addition to working as a dance instructor and choreographer for the past decade, she has also continued her dance education, adding Latin style ballroom, Belly Dance, Salsa, West African, and Afro-Cuban to her repertoire. As an adult her study of movement shifted away from performance, and towards personal growth. Since the beginning of time, women have used dance as a means of enhancing their creativity, vitality and sensuality. Dance is a pathway to unleashing our divine spark! Viva La Femme and P.O.P. were developed with this concept in mind. Ayesha is thrilled to enter a new chapter in her life, uniting her extensive knowledge of feminine power and holistic healing with dance, in a way that serves women— helping them to step into their highest potential.