Cobra Mansa

Cobra Mansa, born Cinézio Feliciano Peçanha in 1960 in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, is a Broadway performer and mestre of capoeira Angola. Also known by the names Cobrinha and Cobrinha Mansa, he appeared on Broadway between 1988 and 1992, with credits that include Oba Oba and Oba Oba '93.

Peçanha began practicing capoeira in 1973 alongside Josias da Silva and Raimundo in Duque de Caxias, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. He was among the founders of the Caxias Street Roda, established with Rogerio Russo and Peixinho de Caxias. In 1974, after witnessing Mestre Moraes perform in the roda of Central Brazil, he became Moraes's student. Before committing fully to capoeira Angola, Mansa worked in photography, as a busker, as a street vendor with the Circo Picolino, and served for two years as a police officer in the state of Belo Horizonte.

In 1981, Mansa joined the Grupo Capoeira Angola Pelourinho, known as GCAP, an organization in Salvador, Bahia that directed its work toward children and orphans from difficult backgrounds. A disagreement with Mestre Moraes over the school's direction eventually led to Mansa's departure from GCAP, along with several other members, and to the founding of the International Capoeira Angola Foundation, known as FICA. The foundation maintains eleven affiliated groups across the United States, Brazil, and Europe. Mansa later served as president of FICA and currently leads the Makonda Capoeira Group.

Around 1994, at the invitation of the Ausar Auset Society, Mansa relocated to the United States and opened a school in Washington, D.C. dedicated exclusively to the teaching of capoeira Angola. He subsequently became an adjunct professor at George Washington University. In 2004, he returned to Bahia, settling in Salvador to establish the Kilombo Tenondé, an organization operating across two sites. One site is located in Valença, Bahia, and provides space for capoeira and permaculture, including organic farming. The other functions as a cultural center in the Coutos suburb of Salvador.

During the 2010s, Mansa traveled to the west-central region of Africa to investigate the African origins of capoeira. He spent time in Angola and Mozambique studying the n'golo martial art and other local cultural traditions that contributed to capoeira's development, and he conducted a workshop in South Africa. His journey to Angola led to the creation of the documentary Jogo de Corpo: Capoeira e Ancestralidade, released in 2013.

Mansa is recognized both for his acrobatic and dynamic playing style and for his scholarship on the historical and cultural roots of capoeira. His nicknames — Cobra Mansa, meaning "tamed snake," and Cobrinha, meaning "little snake" — reflect his graceful and deceptive approach to the art. His work bridging capoeira Angola and capoeira Regional communities has earned him respect across both traditions. His life and practice are the subject of the 2025 book Dance of the Serpent: Portrait of Cobra Mansa, a Capoeira Angola Mestre, written by Alessandra Nahra and published by Funmilayo.