Mestre Alfredo

Mestre Alfredo, also known as "Cuim Bahia" or "Cuminho Na Bahia," was a disciple of Mestre Canjiquinha and one of the important masters who carried the Capoeira Angola tradition in Bahia. His teaching career spanned multiple locations and decades, bridging the Recôncavo region and Salvador.

Alfredo first taught in Muritiba, a city in the Recôncavo Baiano region roughly 90 kilometers from Salvador, where the young Olavo Paixão dos Santos (later Mestre Olavo da Bahia) received his foundational capoeira training in the 1940s-1950s. Olavo would later move to Salvador in 1960 to continue his formation under Mestre Waldemar da Paixão.

Alfredo subsequently established an academy in Campo Velho, one of the eight communities within the Cosme de Farias neighborhood of Salvador. Campo Velho became known as a center for Capoeira Angola, and the neighborhood itself was home to several legendary mestres including Canjiquinha and Celeste. At the Campo Velho academy, Alfredo trained Roberval do Espírito Santo, who began learning at age 14 in 1978. According to Roberval, his older brother took him to watch a roda at Mestre Alfredo's academy in Campo Velho, where he had the opportunity to play berimbau. Mestre Alfredo liked his playing and invited him to participate in the rodas.

Roberval trained under both Mestre Alfredo and Mestre Celeste (from Pastinha's academy), regularly attending Mestre João Pequeno's Sunday roda at Forte de Santo Antônio where he encountered João Grande, Moraes, Cobrinha (Cobra Mansa), Curió, and Lua de Bobó. In 1986, Roberval received his mestre graduation from Mestre Alfredo. Roberval would go on to co-found Grupo Filhos de Angola in 1981 and become Contra-Mestre at Mestre Moraes' academy in 1985.

Alfredo is listed among the "great masters of capoeira" from the Cosme de Farias neighborhood, alongside Mestre Canjiquinha and Mestre Celeste, according to multiple sources documenting the history of capoeira in that historically significant area of Salvador.