Lindsay Puente

Dr. Puente began studying Brazilian cultural expressions while in graduate school in California, and has since completed a number of specialized courses in capoeira and other Afro-Brazilian arts, primarily in extended stays in Brazil.  She was first recognized as a professora, or teacher, of capoeira in 2010. Since then she have been responsible for a capoeira group, while also teaching capoeira to youth in after school  and mentorship programs for ages 6-18, and serving the community with educational workshops, lectures, and cultural demonstrations. Dr. Puente opened her first school of capoeira in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and has been running Fort Worth Capoeira and Ondas Community, a community space dedicated to cultural movement, in Fort Worth since 2014. In 2018 Filhos de Bimba, Escola de Capoeira, a world-renowned school in Capoeira Regional, led by Mestre Nenel,  recognized her studies with a formatura, and she received her lenço azul and medalha to recognize this achievement.

Capoeira Regional is a specific methodology  of capoeira, an art-form from Brazil that developed out of the conflict of cultures that brought Africans to live on Brazilian soil. Capoeira is often described as a dance-fight, meant describe both the combative movements of kicks, dodges and sweeps, and the combination of these moves with the music of the berimbau, call-and-response singing and rhythmic clapping. Most importantly it is a game—one that promotes physical control and mental creativity. The many components of capoeira take a lifetime to study, but we focus on the day-to-day development of movement, music and language all through a cultural lens that is specific to the Afro-Brazilian experience.

In addition to her work with capoeira regional, Dr. Puente is a trained educator, with a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Irvine (2010), and she has taught humanities and social science courses at the university level since 2003, including Composition, Spanish, Literature and Latin American Studies.  Her research has concentrated on the Afro-Latin populations of the Caribbean and Brazil, and this research has helped her to develop her understanding of Capoeira Regional.