Mestre João Grande, a Grand Master of Capoeira Angola with more than 50 years of experience, is a highly respected figure in the world of capoeira and has received numerous awards. These include a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Upsala College in East Orange, NJ in 1995, and in September of 2001 he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is one of the most prestigious awards for practitioners of traditional arts in the US.