Mestre Canela

Floriano Franklin Canela was born on February 26, 1951, in Rio de Janeiro, and began practicing capoeira from early childhood. He continued his formation as a capoeirista in the Tijuca association established by Mestre José Maria da Silva (Mestre Zé Maria), who was also the director of the historic samba school "Império da Tijuca".

In 1967, at age sixteen, Canela prepared a performance on Brazilian art and culture with children from the Brício Filho school in Vila da Penha for their end-of-year school festival. From 1969 to 1971, he trained students at the "Orsina da Fonseca" high school. In 1972, with the consent of his master, he founded the group Mangangà in Rio de Janeiro. The name comes from the Tupí-Guaraní indigenous word for a small but spirited animal that never gives up.

During the mid-1970s, Canela taught capoeira in the Engenho Novo neighborhood of Rio's North Zone. Among his students was the young Henrique Anastácio de Jesus (future Mestre Marrom), who arrived in Rio from Bahia around 1976 at age twelve or thirteen. Marrom would later describe Canela as one of his first formal teachers in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1974, Canela represented Brazilian culture with a capoeira exhibition at the opening of the Pan-American Karate Games held at Maracanãzinho stadium. In 1975, he founded a university capoeira group at SUAM (Augusto Motta University Society), achieving various successes in university and external tournaments.

In 1976, Canela presented a program to the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Culture to obtain authorization for teaching capoeira in schools, recognizing it as a specialty in physical education programs. The ministry approved this program and issued authorization to Floriano Franklin Canela, registering him with number 956. From 1977 to 1979, he taught capoeira in preschool, elementary, and middle schools across Rio de Janeiro.

At the end of 1979, Mestre Canela departed for Europe together with Mestre Zé Maria and other Brazilian artists. In 1980, while traveling through Europe, he found no capoeira groups and maintained his training by participating in karate, kung fu, and full-contact events. In 1982, after settling in Viterbo, Italy, he founded a group with the same name as his original group from Brazil: Capoeira Mangangà. This made him the founder of the first Italian capoeira school.

Mestre Canela trained generations of young people in Viterbo over nearly forty years. His group Mangangà earned the honor of participating in exhibitions during the festivities for the city's patron saint, Santa Rosa di Viterbo. In April 1999, the group won the European team title "Berimbau de Ouro" in Paris, along with first, third, and fourth places in the open individual tournament.

As proof of his ability to transmit his technical knowledge and Brazilian folkloric traditions, Mestre Canela trained numerous assistant instructors and instructors who continued his work.

Floriano Franklin Canela died on January 29, 2022, in Viterbo, Italy, at age 70, after being in intensive care due to various health conditions. He was remembered by the Viterbo community as a person of cheerful and helpful character who remained active with his wife and six children at the Church of San Leonardo Murialdo's oratory. His school was approaching its 40th anniversary at the time of his passing.