Mestre Forró

Joelson Menezes da Silva was born in Belém do Pará in northern Brazil in 1976. From a young age, he dedicated himself to researching and teaching Afro-Brazilian culture, eventually working across various regions of Brazil for nearly two decades as an actor, percussionist, and capoeira teacher.

In Rio de Janeiro, Forró spent approximately fifteen years immersed in the city's cultural scene. There he trained in Capoeira Angola under Mestre Marrom (Henrique Anastácio de Jesus), becoming part of the growing community around Marrom Capoeira & Alunos (later renamed Ngoma Capoeira Angola). In 2004, Mestre Marrom formally recognized his development by conferring the title of Contra-Mestre upon him in Rio.

After nearly two decades in Brazil's southeast, Forró relocated to Germany around 2012, settling in Hannover where he established his own center: Centro Cultural Aldeia de Angola. The group, also known as Capoeira Angola Hannover-Aldeia de Angola, offers regular training in Hannover and Hildesheim, along with children's classes and cultural workshops.

In Germany, Mestre Forró has become an active figure in cultural education. He has worked with numerous schools and youth programs throughout Lower Saxony, including the Astrid-Lindgren-School (2008), "Youth and Justice" project (2010), Käthe-Kollwitz-School, IGS Kronsberg, and various summer programs. Since 2020, he has partnered with KinderKulturAbo for primary school programs, and participated in the "Culture Makes Strong" project with Hildesheim Music School.

Beyond Hannover, Forró teaches children's capoeira classes at Forum Brasil in Berlin, where he works with students ages 3-11. He also travels throughout Europe conducting workshops, sharing his knowledge of capoeira Angola, Afro-Brazilian percussion, and popular dances like forró and samba de roda.

Together with his wife Sigga Glitz, a trained musician from northern Germany who has devoted herself to Brazilian culture, Forró co-leads "Batucajé"—a musical project that takes audiences on a journey through Brazilian rhythms. His full apelido, "Forró Àlágbè", reflects both the northeastern Brazilian dance/music tradition and the Yoruba term "àlágbè" (drummer/master of sacred drums), acknowledging his dual expertise in capoeira and percussion.

Today, Mestre Forró continues to bridge Afro-Brazilian traditions and German cultural education, using capoeira as a tool for anti-racist education and cultural preservation.