Mestre Rogério Teber

Rogerio Teber Pereira Torres was born on December 9, 1964, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1985, at age 21, he began his formal training in Capoeira Angola with the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho (GCAP) in Rio de Janeiro, under the guidance of Mestre Manoel—who at that time was also developing his own practice within the GCAP movement. For over a decade (1985-1996), Rogério immersed himself in the capoeira angola revival that was transforming the art form in Brazil.

In 1996, Rogério moved to Oakland, California, where he studied intensive English at UC Berkeley (1996-1997). The following year, in 1997, he founded his first capoeira group, the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Renascer, at Mosswood Community Center in Oakland. This marked the beginning of his mission to spread Capoeira Angola in the United States.

In 1998, at the "1st Encontro de Capoeira Angola FICA–Oakland," Rogério was invited to affiliate with the Fundação Internacional de Capoeira Angola (FICA) and received the title of Treinel. His group became FICA Oakland, and he began a two-decade collaboration with the three founding masters of FICA: Mestre Cobra Mansa, Mestre Jurandir Nascimento, and Mestre Valmir Damasceno.

In 1999, Mestre Manoel—who had by then founded the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Ypiranga de Pastinha—conferred upon Rogério the title of Contramestre, recognizing his growth and dedication to the art. In 2003, he received a second Contramestre recognition from the FICA founders (Mestres Jurandir, Cobra Mansa, and Valmir), affirming his standing within the international organization.

In November 2004, Contramestre Rogério Teber held his first workshop in Mexico City, which led to the formation of FICA México. He became the Director and coordinator of the cultural space "Quilombo Cultural México-Brasil FICA," located at Calz. de Tlalpan 768-1, Col. Iztaccíhuatl, Mexico City. This center became the headquarters for FICA activities in Mexico.

In 2009, capoeira angola training began in Xalapa, Veracruz, with Oscar González (later Contramestre, 2018), who was a co-founder of the Quilombo Cultural in Xalapa. In 2012, after Mestre Rogério arrived in Xalapa, students trained with both instructors.

In 2013, at the FICA International Conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Rogério received the title of Mestre from Mestres Jurandir, Cobra Mansa, and Valmir—a recognition of his decades of dedication to Capoeira Angola.

At the end of 2018, Mestre Rogério separated from FICA to continue his personal work and founded the Escola de Capoeira Angola Renascer (ECA Renascer). This new path resumed the work he had started in 1997 in Oakland with the original Grupo de Capoeira Angola Renascer. The school's objective is the preservation, practice, and dissemination of the capoeira angola of the 1980s in Rio de Janeiro.

Today, Mestre Rogério Teber lives in Marseille, France, and coordinates Renascer groups in Rio de Janeiro (21 years of history), Mexico City (20 years), Xalapa (15 years), Morelia, Barcelona, Oaxaca, and São Paulo. His legacy includes training numerous practitioners, among them Contramestre Daniel Mattar, who studied under him at FICA Oakland from 2002 to 2020.