Mestre Sapo

Anselmo Barnabé Rodrigues, known as Mestre Sapo, was born on 21 April 1948 in Salvador, Bahia. Raised among street children on the beaches of the city, he found his footing through capoeira and became a disciple of Mestre Canjiquinha (Washington Bruno da Silva), with whom he appeared in films and toured the Northeast as a member of the Quarteto Aberrê — a group comprising Canjiquinha, Sapo, Vitor Careca, and Brasília (Antônio Cardoso Andrade), named in homage to Canjiquinha's own teacher, Mestre Raimundo Aberrê.

In June 1966, the Quarteto Aberrê performed in São Luís, Maranhão — Sapo was approximately 18 years old. When the tour ended, the young capoeirista stayed, settling permanently in the city. He worked initially as a bodyguard for local politicians; over time he became a Physical Education teacher and a national judge for Brazilian Gymnastics. Throughout the 1970s, leading state newspapers promoted his narrative that he was responsible for capoeira's 'reappearance' in Maranhão, having been invited by Governor José Sarney. Later researchers challenged that framing — Mestre Firmino Diniz (born 1929) and others were already holding rodas at Praça Deodoro before the Quarteto Aberrê arrived — yet Sapo's transformative impact on the local scene remains beyond dispute.

In 1972 he began formal teaching at the Ginásio Costa Rodrigues, and subsequently at his own school one block from Praça Odorico Mendes in the centre of São Luís. He transmitted Canjiquinha's angola game — open, expressive, and loose, full of flourishes and falls — training a full generation: Mestre Patinho, Mestre Euzamor, Mestre Paturi, Mestre Manuel Peitudinho, Mestre Curador, Mestre Jacaré, and Tião Carvalho, among others. In 1990, Mestre Canjiquinha publicly recognised Patinho as a mestre descended from this lineage.

Anselmo Barnabé Rodrigues died on 30 May 1982 in São Luís, the victim of a hit-and-run. In 2014 the documentary 'O Dono da Capoeira' (dir. Roberto Augusto Pereira; general direction: Mavi Simão) recovered his story and won three awards at the 37th Guarnicê Film Festival. His singular pride is captured in a detail that circulates among his disciples: despite studying preparatory courses and attempting university entrance exams, he always insisted on being called 'Mestre Sapo' — never 'Professor Anselmo'.