Mestre Euzamor

Alberto Pereira Abreu, known as Mestre Euzamor, was born on 15 January 1962 in São Luís, Maranhão. As a child he accompanied his family on weekend afternoons to the beaches of Ponta D'Areia, where he watched circles of Tambor de Crioula and men entering the roda with the Jogo do Cacete — experiences that would later lead him to trace deep connections between Maranhão's popular culture and the foundations of capoeira angola.

He took up capoeira at around age seven at the Costa Rodrigues capoeira school under Mestre Luciel Rio Branco (killed in a homicide in 1984). He then trained with Mestre Sapo (Anselmo Barnabé Rodrigues), the Bahian master who had arrived in São Luís in 1966 with the Quarteto Aberrê and transformed Maranhão's capoeira. He deepened his practice under Mestre Rui Pinto, whom he regarded as his most influential teacher.

Euzamor became one of the keepers of the navalhista tradition within Capoeira Angola — the art of the razor as an element of the game and of corpo fechado. He formed at least three direct disciples in this speciality: Mestra Dandara Baldez (who received the title of Mestra in 2017, shortly before his death), Mestre Kaká Serafim (Cláudio Serafim), and Contra-mestre Jorcelso Sousa. Dandara Baldez is, according to contemporary sources, the only woman to have continued the transmission of Euzamor's lineage.

He founded the Centro de Artes Japiaçú, home of the Associação Cultural de Capoeira Angola Ludovicence (ACCAL), with approximately sixty students. His pedagogy prioritised the formation of full citizens — self-esteem and physical conditioning — rather than any competitive orientation. Euzamor also carried capoeira angola abroad: twice to Italy and twice to France. In his professional life he worked as a state civil servant.

Mestre Euzamor died in 2017 in São Luís, between June and July — shortly after the death of Mestre Patinho on 11 June 2017. Both were described as great bearers of Maranhão's culture, griôs who left a living wisdom.