TOTE GIRA (Composer) is from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil where he started his career as a musician at the age of 15 playing percussion in his neighborhood. Later he organized and participated in many Samba groups. At the age of 22 he formally studied harmony instruments, specializing in guitar. He has gained a reputation as a composer through his group Ilê Aiyê.  Popular Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury recorded one of his songs, “Canto da Cidade” which was a commercial success in Brazil. His first album, Pivete, was a result of his first collaboration with Jelon Vieira for an hour-long dance work of the same name. Through his work with DanceBrazil, he has received commissions from Meet the Composer, The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust Live Music for Dance program, as well as a commission from the American Music Center Live Music for Dance program for Retratos da Bahia. He also has recorded four CD’s of his own work, including his most recent, Sentimento Acustico.  In 2000, he was invited to be an artist-in-residence at the University of Florida in Gainesville. In 2006 Mr. Tote Gira recorded a new album on Samba de Roda.  In 2008, he released a new CD called Faces of Tote Gira.

MARCELO MOACYR (Production Director/Lighting Designer) Born in Bahia, Brazil, he began his dance studies in 1972 with Lia Robatto.  He moved to Paris in 1973. At that time he also studied cinematography and audio visual at Vincenne University and mime with Jacques Lecoque. In 1975, Mr. Moacyr moved to England to study at the London School of Contemporary Dance. Two years later, he began studying at the Laban Center for Movement and Dance. During that period, he also studied with Bonnie Bird, Valery Preston-Dunlop, Merce Cunningham, Robert North, Robert Cohen, Ana Sokolow, Jerry and Sara Pearson, Louis Mourris, Bela Lewitsky, among others. He returned to Brazil in 1981 to found his own company, Ballet Rural. He was then invited to teach modern technique dance at the Balé Teatro Castro Alves in Bahia, and was selected to represent Brazil at the 1986 American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. As a Fulbright scholar, he went to New York in 1987 to earn his M.A. in Theatre and Dance at City College. He choreographed for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Andrew Jenetti and Dancers USA, Cia de Dança do Palácio das Artes (MG), Primeiro Ato (MG), Compasso Cia de Dança (MG), CorpoVivo Cia de Dança (RN), As a choreographer,  Mr. Moacyr has created more than 70 pieces between Brazil,  England and USA. He was the artistic director of the Mantra Dance Company (1989-1993). He also directed and choreographed for DanceBrazil in NYC (1993-1995). He was awarded a Virtuose Scholarship from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture to England in 1997/8 and served as Artistic Director with Gicá Young Dance Company from 1998 to 2007. As a lighting designer, Mr. Moacyr has designed for several companies, his own dance company, Brazilian Choreographers Festival and to DanceBrazil. He is currently a teacher and dance coordinator at the Dance School of Cultural Foundation in Brazil.

ERLON BRAGA (Capoeirista – aka Morceguinho) was born in Maranguape, Ceara, Brazil, where he started his Capoeira training at the age of 11 with Instructor Morçego in Grupo Capoeira Brazil. He continued his training with Mestre Jelon. Today he holds the rank of Instructor. In 2006, Mr. Braga lived in Holland and traveled in Europe, participating in many Capoeira events. In Brazil, he has been a special guest in many Capoeira events. This is Mr. Braga’s second year with DanceBrazil. .
JANILDO GONÇALVES (Dancer) studied dance at the Escola De Dança of the AXE Project from 2000 to 2003. During this period, he had the opportunity to travel throughout Brazil and also Italy.  In 2003, he joined Balé Teatro Castro Alves and toured nationally and internationally with them until 2008.

CÉSAR NUNES CARVALHO (Dancer) was born in Bahia and began his artistic career in 2003 with Master King. In that same year, he entered the School of Ballet & Arte, studying jazz, modern dance and classical ballet. Through a public audition, he entered the Course of Professional Dance of the Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia in 2004. He has participated in diverse events and festivals, including the Project Cultural Interchange between Brazil and Holland, the Ópera do Morcego at the Teatro Castro Alves and the Body of Ball EBATECA.  In 2005, he was invited to the Festival Mondiofolk to participate in a tour in France. He has danced with Balé Teatro Castro Alves  and is currently majoring in dance at the Universidade Federal da Bahia. Mr. Carvalho joined DanceBrazil in 2006.

CAMILA FREITAS (Dancer) was born in Santo Amaro, Bahia. She started dancing at the age of seven at the Escola de Dança da Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia and graduated from the Royal Academy. She has studied ballet with Carlos Moraes, worked with Emilia Biancardi Ferreira, the Orquestra Afro Baiana do Pelourinho, Balé Teatro Castro Alves and popular music singer Ivete Sangalo. She was also a special guest in the Ateliê de Coreógrafos Brasileiros Ano V.

JAMILDO ALENCAR (Dancer) was born in Salvador in 1983 and began his dance career with the study of capoeira. In 1996, he worked with the Projeto Axé, in 1999, he joined the Gicá Young Dance Company directed by Marcelo Moacyr, and in 2001, he joined the Balé Teatro Castro Alves.

RAPHAEL NOVAES (Capoeirista – aka Fogo) was born in Rio de Janeiro. He started training Capoeira with Mestre Jelon when he was nine and currently studies ballet with Carlos Moraes. He has danced with Balé da Mata, EBATECA in the project “Mae Estrela Cano” at the Teatro Castro Alves and with Daniela Mercury at the Festival de Verão. He has been a guest teacher for the Capoeira Foundation and at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center and at Capoeira events in Gainesville, FL, San Antonio and Houston, TX, and special guest at Project Exchange in Bahamas.

FERNANDA SANTANA (Dancer) began studying dance in 1999 at Viviane Lopes Jazz Academy. She graduated in dance at the Dance School of Federal University of Bahia. Since 2006, she has been invited to dance for different choreographers and dance projects.. She has danced with singer Daniela Mercury and also dances for Jorge Silva Dance Company and Balé Folclórico da Bahia.

LUÍS ALBERTO SANTANA (Capoeirista – aka Vagalume) was born in Encarnaçào de Salinas, Bahia, Brazil, where he studied Capoeira with Mestre Jelon in a special program created by the Instituto de Artes Urbana da Bahia and DanceBrazil. Mr. Santana holds the rank of Instructor and today he is the leader of Instituto de Artes Urbana da Bahia under the supervision of Mestre Jelon. In 2005, he began working with DanceBrazil as an understudy and participated in a conference for young people organized by UNICEF in Trinidad. He was a special guest at Project Exchange in Bahamas and has also danced with Balé Folclórico da Bahia. This makes Mr. Santana’s third year with DanceBrazil.

Daniel SOUZA Santos (Musician) was born in 1976 in Salvador Bahia, Brazil. He initially studied percussion with his brother, Professor Zé Ricardo. In 1994, he joined the Balé Folclórico da Bahia where he performed for many years. He toured the US with Capoeira Master Amem Santos.  During that time, his extraordinary ability to play the berimbau was highly praised in 2002 by Anna Kisselgoff, the then senior dance critic of The New York Times.  Following this US tour, he was invited by Franco Fontana to be part of his company OBA OBA.  In addition to performing, Daniel has had the pleasure of studying with the ethnomusicologist and teacher Emilia Biancardi. He completed a course of percussion at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA).  In 2004 at the Perc Pan percussion festival, he introduced the BIRIARPA, an instrument he created which is a mix of berimbau and harp.

EDMILSON PEREIRA SANTOS (Musician) has participated in many festivals including the Traditional Dance and Music Festival in Olímpia (São Paulo), the 10th Music Festival in Rio Grande do Sul, and the 8th Music Festival in Piauí where he won first prize. He has participated in various “Carnavais” in Bahia as well as other states in Brazil.

SÉRGIO SANTOS started playing percussion at the age of seventeen and was invited one year later to work and tour with the Balé Folclórico da Bahia. He still plays with Balé Folclórico da Bahia but now also tours internationally with other dance companies and bands.

ÍSIS PAULA BARBOSA DOS SANTOS (Dancer) was born in Salvador, Bahia and began studying dance at the Centro Acadêmico de Ballet da Bahia in 1994. She is a certified dancer by the Royal Academy of Dance. In 1998, she continued study at the Academia de Balé da Bahia and in the same year, came to New York and studied in the Alvin Ailey School of Dance’s summer program. From 2002 – 2004, she studied dance at the Universidade Federal da Bahia and also toured the U.S. with Balé Folclórico da Bahia. From 2004 – 2007, she performed with the Lion King in Germany and most recently has been in another Disney production, Mystic Rhythms, in Tokyo, Japan. Also in 2004, she toured with the well known popular singer Daniela Mercury with who she participated in many festival including Fashion Rock in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is Miss Santos’ second year with DanceBrazil.

HÉLIO SILVA (Dancer) began his dance studies in Minas Gerais at the Beth Dorça Academy in 1993. He danced with the junior company of the academy for five years and then became a member of the academy’s professional company, Grupo Beth Dorça. While he was with Grupo Beth Dorça, he participated in many festivals, winning many awards including the Best Dancer of the Joinville Festival in 2003. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Silva danced with the Balé do Teatro Castro Alves. He has also worked with many other choreographers including Roseli Rodrigues, Ivonice Satie, Anselmo Zolla, Mário Nascimento, Luiz Arrieta, Tíndaro Silvano, Luis Fernando Bongiovanni, Maurício Oliveira and Fernando Martins among others.

PAULO SILVA (Capoeirista – aka Chuvisco) was born in Goiania where he started his Capoeira training at the age of twelve with contra-mestre Guerreiro in Grupo Candeias. Today, Mr. Silva studies Capoeira with Mestre Jelon and holds the rank of professor in Capoeira Luanda.  Mr. Silva has been a guest teacher at the Federal University of Santa Caterina and Colegio Avila among others. He has also guest taught in Spain and France and was a special guest for UNICEF at the Exchange Program in Trinidad as well as at Project Exchange in Bahamas  and many Capoeira events in the United States and internationally and . This is Mr. Silva’s fourth year with DanceBrazil.

FRANCISCO SILVINO (Rehearsal Director) began to study dance in his native São Paulo in 1994. He has been developing research on contemporary dance as well as classical dance ever since. In 2002, he danced  for Balé Cidade de São Paulo under Ivonice Satie´s directorship. In 2001, he joined the Distrito Dance Company directed by Patty Brown. In 2003, he danced for the Balé Teatro Castro Alves in Salvador, Bahia. In 2008, he joined DanceBrazil as a dancer and is now the company’s Rehearsal Director.

ALISSON AUGUSTO SILVEIRA (Capoeirista – aka Pião) was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where he started his Capoeira training at the age of four with Mestre Jelon. As well, as performing with DanceBrazil, Mr. Silveira has toured internationally throughout Europe and Africa with popular performing group Magic Life as a Capoeira solo performer. He was also a special guest at Project Exchange in Bahamas. This is Mr. Silveira’s second year with DanceBrazil.