Mestre Gilvan

Gilvan was one of the pioneering capoeiristas who helped establish capoeira in São Paulo during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the brother of Mestre Joel (Joel de Souza Menezes), who was born in Santo Amaro and raised in Feira de Santana, Bahia—the same region that produced legendary capoeiristas including Mestre Bimba's father.

Like his brother Joel, Gilvan migrated from Bahia to São Paulo during the great wave of Bahian capoeiristas who brought the art to Brazil's largest city. By the mid-1960s, he was among the group of mestres—including Zé de Freitas, Valdemar "Angoleiro", Paulo Gomes, Pinatti, Joel, Suassuna, Brasília, and Silvestre—who were implanting the practice of capoeira in São Paulo society.

Gilvan regularly frequented the famous rodas at Praça da República, the legendary Sunday gathering founded by Mestre Ananias in 1953 where the cream of São Paulo capoeira assembled. Sources describe the period from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s as the "peak" of the República rodas, when capoeiristas from all backgrounds and styles gathered on this "stage." Mestre Ananias himself, the pioneer among capoeiristas to establish residence in São Paulo, "lived with great Bahian capoeiristas who lived and passed through São Paulo, like Zé de Freitas, Limão, Valdemar (do Martinelli), Hermógenes, Gilvan, Silvestre, Paulo Gomes, Suassuna, Brasília, Joel and many others."

In 1971, when Mestre Bimba visited São Paulo at the invitation of Mestre Onça (Airton Neves Moura), Bimba symbolically recognized a group of mestres as the "Percursores da Capoeira em São Paulo" (Pioneers of Capoeira in São Paulo)—the famous "Grupo dos Nove" (Group of Nine). Gilvan was among these nine pioneers, alongside Suassuna, Brasília, Joel (his brother), Limão, Silvestre, Pinatti, Zé de Freitas, and Onça. A historic photograph from around 1972 captures this moment: Standing are M Zé de Freitas, M Pinatti, M Suassuna, M Bimba, M Onça, M Joel, M Brasília; Squatting are M Gilvan (Joel's brother), M Limão, M Silvestre.

Gilvan passed away sometime before September 1998. At the funeral of Mestre Paulo Gomes—who was assassinated at his academy on September 24, 1998—one of the most impassioned speeches was delivered by Mestre Joel, "who had already lost his brother Gilvan in the past." The exact date and circumstances of Gilvan's death remain undocumented.

His legacy lives on through his recognition as one of São Paulo's founding capoeira pioneers and his appearance in the historic photograph with Mestre Bimba and the Grupo dos Nove.