1960 > 1990

Mestre Waldemar

Waldemar Rodrigues da Paixão (Mestre Waldemar, Waldemar da Liberdade or Waldemar do Pero Vaz) is born in 1916 in Ilha de Maré and began the practice of capoeira in 1936 at 20 years old. He was a student of Canário Pardo, Peripiri, Talabi, Siri-de-Mangue and Ricardo of Ilha de Maré: “I asked those men to teach me, so that I could become professional. So that I could say that I knew, and now I know. I learned capoeira,”  He began to teach capoeira in 1940, He was already a very skillful and respected capoeira when he begun holding his rodas in the Corta-Braço slum (a very poor neighborhood in Salvador Bahia), later known as Liberdade.“Earlier, it was in open air. Later I made a shed of straw and the capoeiristas of Bahia all came there to play.” Like Canjiquinha and others, Waldemar learned capoeira intuitively, in the old way of teaching/learning capoeira by observation and imitation as opposed to systematized teaching. Little by little, Mestre Waldemar’s roda became one of the most important meeting points for Bahian capoeiristas.  Although capoeiristas often arrived at the roda armed, they would respect Mestre Waldemar by going to the bar and asking the bartender to hold on to their weapons while they played....

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Mestre Ananias

Mestre Ananias (Adilene Cavalheiro) is the synthesis of the African heritage of the Brazilian people. He lives Capoeira, Samba and Candomblé without dissociating them from one another, explaining in his behavior questions about the ancestry of the brazilian people. Born in 1924 in São Félix, the Reconcavo Baiano region. He absorbs the context in which it is immersed and frequent Mestre Waldemar's roda. In the middle of the twentieth century he moves to São Paulo at the invitation of the São Paulo theater producers. He worked with Plinio Marcos, Solano Trindade and other theater personalities. In 1953, the year of his arrival, Master Ananias founds the most traditional capoeira roda of São Paulo, the Roda da Praça da República and his group: Associação Capoeira Angola Senhor do Bonfim. At the end of the 90's he records his first CD with Mestre Pedro. He passed away in 2016....

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Mestre Paulo dos Anjos

Mestre Paulo dos Anjos (José Paulo dos Anjos) was known as one of the most skilled and versatile angoleiros of the century. He strongly resisted the attempts to incorporate the changes and fads of modern capoeira into the traditional art. “For me, nothing has changed. I continue practicing Capoeira Angola according to tradition,” he used to say. Born on August 15th, 1936 in the state of Sergipe, the 14-year-old José Paulo dos Anjos made a name for himself in Salvador as a promising boxer. When he met Mestre Canjiquinha one year earlier, he became hooked on Capoeira and began to frequent the rodas of the Bahian cities. In the street festivals, his technique and abilities began to attract everyone’s attention. From then on, time would transform him into a master, graduated by Mestre Canjiquinha himself. He was widely respected in the capoeira world and also well-known as a singer. He recorded some songs on a CD, with his unique style, maintaining the musical tradition of capoeira. Alongside Mestre Gato Preto, he gave classes on Itaparica Island as well as other places in the metropolitan region of Salvador. In the 1970s, he moved to São Paulo for five years. In São José dos Campos, he formed the group Anjos de Angola...

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Mestre Burguês

Antonio Carlos de Menezes (Mestre Burguês) was born on the 6th of September 1955 in Laranjeiras - Sergipe – Brazil. When he was only 3 months old, he moved with his family to Rio de Janeiro. His first contact with capoeira was at the age of 12, when he was going through the 6th grade at the Escola Evangelica in Ramos, RJ, Brazil, next to Escola de Samba Imperatriz Leopoldinense. He used to play football in a neighbourhood where there was a capoeira player nicknamed China who would always cause trouble and beat him and his friends. One day he decided to begin practising capoeira so that he wouldn’t suffer any more assaults from China or anyone else. His first master was a book, which his friend Nelson bought and together they began training their first capoeira moves in the Morro do Alemao, Ramos, RJ, Brazil where Nelson lived. After some time their enjoyment grew and so they felt that they needed a tutor in order to improve their knowledge in the art. They began attending Mestre Mentirinha’s Rodas, and from the beginning they identified themselves with Mestre Paulão, Mestre Mentinha’s brother, who was also beginning to teach along with...

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Mestre Gato Preto

Born in Santo Amaro de Purificaçao, on 19 March 1929. He learnt to play Capoeira during his childhood with his father Eutiquio Lucio Chagas, a famous Capoeirista from Santo Amaro and then continued his training with Cobrinha Verde, Mestre Leon and Mestre Waldemar. He was one of the mestres (along with Mestre Pastinha, mestre Joao Grande, Camafeu de oxossi) who incorporated the Brazilian delegation during the first Black Art Festival of Dakar in 1966.   He died in 2002.Written by Roger Spock Translation into English: Shayna McHugh Source: http://eulanet.sites.uol.com.br/ Mestre Gato Preto will turn seventy years old on March 19th of this year. He has spent over fifty years in capoeira and he’s still going strong, giving an example to the newer students. José Luiz Gabriel began Capoeira when he was eight years old. By the time he was twelve, everyone thought that he already knew everything. He did not believe this and kept seeking to learn more, as he does until this day. He never “officially” graduated in Capoeira. He understands that a capoeirista is not a PhD, who learns everything and then graduates in order to exercise his profession.“Capoeira never ends,” he says. After living with other great Capoeira practitioners in Salvador-Bahia, Mestre Gato Preto has become a traveling ambassador of Capoeira,...

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Mestre Itapoan

Mestre Itapoan (Reimundo Cesar Alves de Almeidahas) was born august 13, 1947 in Salvador Bahia Brazil. On September 22, 1964 he began learning Capoeira Regional from Mestre Bimba and remains his disciple to this day. In 1972, Mestre Itapoan founded the Ginga Associação de Capoeira. He is also the founder of the Associação Brasileira dos Professores (Brazilian of teachers of Capoeira) and the Federação Bahiana de Capoeira (Bahia Federation of Capoeira). In 1990, he was awarded the national sports medal of honor from the Brazilian ministry of education....

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