Mestre Marcelino

Mestre Marcelino led a Pernambucan capoeira group at Praça Mauá in Rio de Janeiro's port district during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The port area of Rio, particularly around Praça Mauá, was historically a meeting point for diverse capoeira traditions, including practitioners from Pernambuco who brought their distinct regional style to the city.

Marcelino's group was one of several informal training spaces in Rio before the establishment of formal academies. The young Rafael Flores, who would later co-found Grupo Senzala, trained with Marcelino's group at Praça Mauá before traveling to Salvador in 1963 to study with Mestre Bimba. This early exposure to Pernambucan capoeira contributed to the diverse influences that would shape the Senzala methodology.

Very little is documented about Marcelino's life beyond this single mention in the oral history of Grupo Senzala's founders. Like many capoeira mestres of his generation, his legacy is preserved primarily through the practitioners he influenced rather than written records.