MESTRA MÁRCIA CIGARRA on creating CIGARRA & Guerreiras Nessa Arte
See the Q+A from our March 2, 2024 preview show
Mestra Márcia “Cigarra” (Márcia Treidler), is a 40+ year Capoeira veteran and the founder and artistic director of ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco (ACSF.) Márcia began Capoeira in 1982 under the renowned Mestre Camisa, a student of the legendary Mestre Bimba.
Throughout the 1980s only a handful of women trained Capoeira. Márcia was determined to change the trajectory for women in the art. With persistent hard work, she earned respect and a place amongst the leading practitioners. In 1987, she began teaching street children, and by 1990, had attained the highest level reached by any woman in ABADÁ-Capoeira, a status she maintains today.
In 1991, at age 25, Márcia left Brazil for the U.S. and founded ACSF to preserve and expand Capoeira and to use Capoeira as a catalyst for positive change. As an undocumented gay immigrant artist, Márcia started modestly with two weekly classes for a handful of students. Awareness of her talent grew, and gradually she added classes, performances, and events.
In 1997, her artistic contribution to the U.S. was recognized when she was the first female artist to receive a National Interest Waiver as an “Alien with Extraordinary Abilities,” granting her permanent residence. That same year, with Executive Director Jennifer Walsh, she established ACSF’s Brazilian Arts Center, the area’s first venue dedicated to Brazilian art and culture. In 2013, she was the first woman from the ABADÁ legacy to receive the title “Mestra,” making her one of the top eight Capoeiristas of some 60,000 international members.
As a leader of the global ABADÁ organization, Márcia performs and teaches all over Brazil, North America, and Europe, and is one of seven judges for the prestigious ABADÁ-Capoeira “Jogos”— international and national Capoeira competitions. She’s valued as an innovative choreographer; a sought-after teacher; a teacher and mentor for ACSF and ABADÁ-North American artists; a role model for Brazilian, immigrant, women and girls, and LGBTQIA+ populations; and a bridge-builder in our community. Márcia leads women and men to unprecedented levels of success in the art, and her work promotes the increasing presence and impact of women in Capoeira.
She continues her commitment to protecting the integrity of Capoeira by illuminating historic significance while advancing cultural knowledge; mentoring next-generation artists; and amplifying gender equity in Capoeira internationally.
Throughout the 1980s, only a handful of women trained Capoeira.
In 2021, ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco and Mestra Márcia Cigarra were awarded one of their most prestigious grants: The Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions for Folk & Traditional Artists from The Hewlett Foundation. That year, the foundation named only 50 commissions designed to support the creation and premiere of exceptional new works by world-class artists in partnership with Bay Area nonprofit organizations.
In collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Claudia Escobar, ACSF and Mestra Cigarra produced a teaser performance of CIGARRA & Guerreiras Nessa Arte in March 2024. Escobar had traveled with Mestra Cigarra in Brazil to interview culture-bearers on video and create records and footage that inform and feature in the performance. We are grateful to the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions grant and the National Endowment for the Arts for making this project possible.
CIGARRA & Guerreiras Nessa Arte will be presented by ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco’s Performance Company and special guest artists from May 3-5 at San Francisco’s Z SPACE.