mestre joão grande was born in the village of itagi in the south of the brazilian state of bahia. as a child he worked alongside his family in the fields. at the age of 10 he saw "corta capim" for the first time. this is a movement performed by crouching down, extending one leg in front and swinging it around in a circle, hopping over it with the other leg. fascinated, he asked what it was called and was told that it was "the dance of the nagos" — a dance of the african descendants in the city of salvador. the yoruba of southwest nigeria had a major cultural influence in salvador, which was considered the black rome of brazil. but the dance was actually of central african origin— it was capoeira. joão didn't learn the correct name of the movement until many years later, but it changed his life forever. at the age of ten he left home in search of "the dance of the nagos".