Mestre Fran

Francisco Antônio Rodrigues da Silva, better known as Mestre Fran, was born on November 7, 1964 in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. He started practicing capoeira at the age of 10, in São Paulo, Brazil with Ronaldo Luis de Lima, better known as Mestre Bradesco of Grupo de Capoeira Conceição da Praia. Mestre Bradesco was responsible for creating a capoeirista strong in every aspect of the fundamentals. In November of 1982, at the age of 18, he arrived in Londrina, Brazil with the dream to disseminate the art of capoeira to the southern regions of Brazil.

After many years of hard work in Londrina, Sara, Mestre Fran’s wife and a professor, suggested a trip to Salvador, Bahia. In Salvador Mestre Fran met Dona Alice, Mestre Pastnha’s widow and many other capoeira Mestres like Bobó, Caiçara, and Ezequiel. These old “capoeiristas baianos” (capoeiristas from Bahia) showed Mestre Fran the essence of capoeira and the art of Maculelê. That journey impacted Mestre Fran so much that upon his return to Londrina, he decided to create his own group. On November 5, 1991 in the city of Londrina, Brazil, Mestre Fran founded the Associaçao Cultural de Capoeira Maculelê or Capoeira Maculelê Cultural Association.

Mestre Fran’s reach has extended all over the world with his students teaching in Portugal, England, Austria, and here in the United States. He has been the guest of mestres and instructors at events all over the US like Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., New York, California, and New Jersey. He continues to promote the principles taught by his Mestre: “To play Capoeira is to understand the history of the people that expressed its fears, dreams, and anxieties of liberty through body movement.”