Owner and head instructor at Capoeira Besouro, Mestre Batata, came to Los Angeles in 2002 and has been teaching here ever since, in addition to traveling and teaching workshops and seminars around the world. Capoeira Besouro teaches a contemporary style of capoeira, teaching students to play capoeira with capoeiristas from different backgrounds, be it Angola or Regional. While many capoeira schools today remain loyal to one style of capoeira, many other schools teach a more contemporary style of capoeira to their students, which combines philosophies from both traditional styles of capoeira. It is the goal of Mestre Batata and Capoeira Besouro to teach its students capoeira which understands the fundamentals of both traditional types of capoeira, but teaching a contemporary capoeira which enables students play in any roda they might encounter.