Mestre Olavo

Olavo Paixão dos Santos was born on July 29, 1942, in Cruz das Almas, in the Recôncavo region of Bahia. He grew up in nearby Muritiba, where he first learned capoeira under Mestre Alfredo da Capoeira Angola.

In 1958, at age sixteen, Olavo began making berimbaus—a craft he would pursue for over six decades. In 1960, at eighteen, he moved to Salvador and sought out Mestre Waldemar da Paixão, the legendary capoeirista of Liberdade who had pioneered the commercialization and artistic decoration of berimbaus. Under Waldemar's guidance, Olavo learned to build quality instruments, incorporating Waldemar's innovations: the use of steel wire (arame) and the painting of gourds (cabaças). Olavo added his own signature—pyrography (pirogravura), the art of decorating wood with burned designs.

From 1969 to 1970, Olavo directed the capoeira rodas at Agnelo's bar in Pero Vaz, Liberdade, under Mestre Waldemar's oversight. This was the famous "passeio de Agnelo" where Waldemar had held his legendary Sunday rodas since the 1940s. The rodas gradually deactivated after this period.

In 1967, Olavo also met Mestre Acordeon and began learning Regional capoeira with him, expanding his knowledge beyond the Angola tradition.

For more than forty years, Olavo maintained a workspace at the Hotel Deville Prime Salvador (formerly Hotel Quatro Rodas), selling handcrafted berimbaus and traditional Bahian cultural items. His instruments—berimbaus, pandeiros, cuícas, atabaques, agogôs, xequerês, and reco-recos—became sought after by specialists worldwide. In 2025, he faced arbitrary removal from this workspace, prompting a solidarity motion from the Bahia State Legislature recognizing him as "a living symbol of Bahian culture" and "guardian of ancestral knowledge."

On August 20, 1989, a historic photograph captured Olavo playing berimbau at Mestre Itapoan's house in Salvador, alongside Mestres João Pequeno (pandeiro), João Grande (berimbau), Gigante (berimbau), and Waldemar (singing), with Mestres Paulo dos Anjos and Itapoan crouching in front. The gathering celebrated the birthdays of Itapoan and Paulo dos Anjos.

At 79 years of age, with 56 years dedicated to capoeira, Olavo received the title of Mestre Artesão (Master Artisan) on May 28, 2021, at the Centro de Comercialização Artesanato da Bahia in Salvador. Alongside Mestre Lua Rasta, he became one of the first master artisans of capoeira recognized in Brazil, through an initiative of the Secretaria do Trabalho, Emprego, Renda e Esporte (SETRE). "É um momento de felicidade por essa conquista," he said. "Como capoeirista e artesão fabricante de instrumentos, principalmente berimbau, só tenho a agradecer."

In January 2024, Olavo was among 14 octogenarian mestres honored at the 5º Rede Capoeira in Salvador, receiving a symbolic Sankofa statue alongside João Grande, Acordeon, Pelé da Bomba, Brasília, Virgílio, and other legendary figures.

Today, Olavo leads Grupo de Capoeira BerimBahia and holds traditional Sunday street rodas in front of his house, welcoming capoeiristas from various groups.