Steen Møller has been physically active throughout his life and always strived to be the best in his field. The competitive person has always prevailed, and the will and curiosity to learn new things has taken him far. Already at the age of 12, he became acquainted with the carnival in Copenhagen for the first time, and here began his educational journey towards a life as a capoerista, when he met a small, slim and charismatic Brazilian lady named Ana Pompeia at the Kolibri Samba School, who, in addition to teaching him samba, introduced him to capoeira. At the samba school, Steen Møller also received lessons in samba playing from drummer and percussionist Michael Aabye. At the age of 14, Steen Møller began training taekwondo under a Korean grandmaster, where he later achieved the black belt. Already at the age of 17, he was an active dancer with show experience, and he taught himself both samba and taekwondo.
In 1987, Mestre Toni Vargas and Mestre Peixinho were on their first European tour, and although Steen did not have the opportunity to receive instruction from them, it was a decisive milestone in his life to meet the two subdued and charismatic movement people, who for him are the manifestation of capoeira. After finishing his physical education training in 1989, Steen Møller went to Rio de Janeiro for half a year to train under Mestre Peixinho and at the same time study Samba Gafiera (couple dance). He also participated as a musician in the carnival in Rio de Janeiro under the samba school Academico da Rocinha. After returning home, Steen Møller founded the Capoeira school Senzala in Frederiksberg in 1991. He regularly travels to Brazil to get inspiration for the school and has a very close relationship with Rio de Janiero and the city's capoeira environment.
In 2001, Steen Møller began studies at the Department of Sports at the University of Copenhagen, but with a well-functioning capoeira school and a growing family, a need and desire arose for a different education with an emphasis on personal development, which could be directly combined and supplemented with his physical and musical skills. With an education as a physical therapist in mind, he began a 10-year journey of studies at home and abroad with Vivian Person and Steffano Sabetti. Today Mestre Steen is an examined physical therapist: LEP, Group leader in Dansergia (dance therapy) and Practitioner in Process Inquiry (communication technique for counselling, coaching and supervision). In 2011, he was the first European to be graduated Mestre de Capoeira during a large graduation ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. He is a specialist in Afro-Brazilian music and movement culture. As a professional capoeirista, dancer and musician, he has more than 30 years of experience as a performing artist, manager and teacher at home and abroad, as well as years of experience as an organizer of large international capoeira festivals. His skills as a body therapist, which naturally support and complement his capoeira, are a contributing factor to the extraordinary and respected position that Mestre Steen and the Capoeira School Senzala occupy today in Denmark as well as abroad.
