Mestre Loremil

Josivaldo de Souza Machado (May 10, 1953 – March 11, 1994), known professionally as Loremil Machado and by his capoeira apelido "Marretinha," was a dancer, choreographer, percussionist, and capoeira mestre who helped introduce capoeira to the United States. He was a nephew and first-generation student of Mestre Nô (Norival Moreira de Oliveira), graduating among the first group of students from Nô's academies in Salvador.

Loremil's jogo was legendary. As one contemporaneous account described: "Loremil's wildly free and expressive jogo in the roda and in life touched and inspired everyone who saw him." Unlike Mestres Acordeon and Jelon, who taught consistently, Loremil "never taught capoeira classes consistently," which may explain why his role as a founder of capoeira in the United States has sometimes been underrecognized.

In 1974, Loremil performed with the folkloric group Viva Bahia in the stage production "Três Marias" and came to New York City. The following year, in April 1975, he and fellow Bahian choreographer Jelon Vieira arrived in New York to perform in "Parto," a play by Brazilian playwrights Gilda Grillo and Maria Isabel Barreno. They became the first capoeira mestres to live and teach in the United States.

Their early work was humble but impactful. They performed capoeira demonstrations at public schools in the Bronx—the birthplace of hip-hop and breakdancing. Mestre Jelon recalled: "Loremil and I, both with our berimbau, would put a record on because there was no one to play for us while we were showing the boys capoeira. They were crazy about it. After each show, everybody wanted to talk to us and invited us to their break dancing circles. At that time, break dancing was totally different than it is today. It was more of a cultural movement than a commercial thing."

According to Mestre Acordeon: "These demonstrations by Mestre Jelon [Vieira] and Loremil Machado are considered by many to be responsible for the incorporation of capoeira movements into breakdancing." Scholar Matthias Röhrig Assunção confirms that "many people believe their performances inspired the break dance craze of the 1980s." Vieira specifically noted that kids "began incorporating capoeira into breakdance—moves like the 'head spin' (peão de cabeça). Loremil could spin on his head beautifully."

In 1977, Loremil and Jelon founded "The Capoeiras of Bahia," which became the first company to bring traditional Afro-Brazilian dance and capoeira to the United States. The company was later renamed DanceBrazil in 1981 at the suggestion of choreographer Alvin Ailey. Loremil served as a featured dancer in DanceBrazil while also founding his own ensemble, the Loremil Machado Afro-Brazilian Dance Company.

Loremil taught at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, where he joined a prestigious faculty that included Alvin Ailey, Fred Benjamin, and Charles Moore. He also taught at Lezlly Dance Studios in Manhattan. Among his notable students was award-winning playwright and poet Ntozake Shange, who recalled: "No, the place for me was Loremil Machado's class for the end of the year. It was as important as a midnight mass. The class was full to the corners and we were all ready for our athletic, jumping, twirling, kicking, giving much quick knees and feet..."

For four or five years, Loremil and Jelon performed a weekly show of capoeira set to jazz music at the Cachaça nightclub on East 62nd Street, creating a unique fusion that captivated New York audiences. He also performed as a musician with the SARAVA BAHIA BAND and the Kotoko Society.

In 1980, pioneering Black filmmaker Warrington Hudlin directed "Capoeira of Brazil," a documentary short featuring Loremil, Jelon Vieira, and Eusebio da Silva. The film, produced by WGBH/Boston's New Television Workshop in association with the Black Filmmakers Foundation, won the Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival.

In 1990, Loremil participated in the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta alongside notable masters including Mestre João Grande, Mestre Nô, Mestre Lua de Bobó, Cobra Mansa, and Moraes.

Loremil Machado died on March 11, 1994, at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. He was 40 years old. The cause of death was AIDS, as confirmed by his longtime friend, writer and dancer Barbara Browning, in her posthumous writings. The New York Times obituary noted: "Mr. Machado was known for the intensity of his dancing even in styles like the Brazilian martial arts form Capoeira, which calls as much for reckless daring as for skill, training and a great deal of physical energy."

Ntozake Shange's posthumous book "Dance We Do" (Beacon Press) memorialized him as "the extraordinary capoeirista Loremil Machado, lost to AIDS in 1994." In 2019, the Clark Center 60th Anniversary celebration honored him with a celebration of Brazilian Dance featuring "samba and Orixa dance in Loremil Machado's honor and style."

He is survived by his mother Joselina Candida de Sousa Machado, three brothers, and two sisters, all of Salvador, Bahia.