Known as Sabiá to most friends, family and the capoeira community, Fabiano Pinheiro was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and received his capoeira apelido at the tender age of 9. Sabiá started his martial arts journey training under the supervision of Mestre Jelon Vieira with Grupo Capoeira Brasil in Salvador. Sabiá received his Instructor rank in 2005.
Immigrating to the New York City in 2003, Sabiá has uses capoeira as a vehicle to enrich the lives of youth practitioners at KIPP AMP Academy in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. As one of the founding team members of the KIPP AMP Capoeira program Instructor Sabiá and Pantera (Nicole Smith) were the first to implement a fully inclusive Capoeira fitness and arts program into the Kipp charter schools system. Over the past 6 school years the KIPP AMP Capoeira program has serviced 1000 students in batizados and changing of cord ceremonies. Instructor Sabiá is currently a full time Capoeira Physical Education teacher for almost 7 years working with ages 9-15 years old.
Instructor Sabiá has also worked in commercials, folkloric events and performances that promote the art of capoeira; television commercials for Subway Sandwiches, Orbitz Gum, America’s Got Talent, NY Film Academy documentary Film “The Evolution of the Art of Capoeira in the World,” National Endowment for the Arts Folk Festivals in Lowell Massachusetts and Richmond Virginia, music video “Slave to the Beat” by Cid the Kid, photo shoot layout for X magazine with Ricky Martin, Global Passport Charity Performance with the United Nations in Bermuda, Virgin Islands, participation with second DanceBrazil company performance at Fall for Dance at the City Center of New York, and the Sun Flower Children Russell Simmons charity event performance to name a few.
Currently Instructor Sabiá teaches regular weekly adult class in New York City and the surrounds boroughs at the YMCA in Flushing, Queens and PMT Dance Studio in Manhattan; all capoeira class sites are for all ages. During the academic school year Instructor Sabiá has a monthly class at Bard College hosted by the Dance Department and a weekly class at New Design High School that is targeted for children and teenagers to train at no cost.
Instructor Sabiá also collaborates with the Capoeira Foundation and The Capoeira Center of New York by helping support grant work that fosters the development and maintenance of capoeira art in all of the 5 boroughs and nationwide.