Mestre King

Mestre King was from Salvador, Bahia Brazil & was one of Brasil’s leading authorities in Afro-Brazilian dance and music forms and traditions. Mestre King was the first male to graduate from the Federal University of Bahia's Dance Department where he held both a bachelor's and post-graduate certificate in dance and choreography. He had been teaching, choreographing and performing for over 50 years. The City of Los Angeles and Viver Brasil celebrated his 50 years of dedication as a Mestre [Master Teacher] of Afro-Brazilian dance when he was in residence in Los Angeles in 2002. Since Viver Brasil's founding, Mestre King served as artistic advisor to Viver Brasil. 

He first came to the West Coast in 1994 to teach at Brazil Week at Stanford University. In 2002, King was honored by the Black College Dance Exchange held at FAMU for his contribution to the field of African diasporic dance and awarded an Alliance for California Traditional Arts Mentorship Grant to work with Viver Brasil. Between 1995 -2002, he taught at UCLA, Florida International University, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and the Dance Collective in Leimert Park/LA. On the East Coast, he taught at New York University and Brooklyn College for Jelon Vieira’s Dance Brazil in the early 1990s.