Mestre Camaleão

Mestre Camaleão, a native of Salvador da Bahia, became one of the key figures in Rio de Janeiro's capoeira angola revival of the 1990s before bringing his art to Europe.

His formative years were shaped by Mestre Mucungê, the legendary berimbau virtuoso and co-founder of Rio's original Grupo Filhos de Angola (1960). Camaleão "shared years of life" with Mucungê, absorbing the traditional Angola that Mucungê had brought from Bahia. This connection placed Camaleão within a direct lineage to the pioneering Bahian angoleiros who established capoeira in Rio's favelas.

Camaleão established himself at Morro do Turano in Tijuca, one of Rio's sprawling favela complexes. From there, and from his academy at Arcos da Lapa in Centro, he developed his distinctive approach—working "from favelas to universities" with socio-educational projects that used capoeira's rich pedagogy as a tool for social transformation.

In 1994, together with his students, Camaleão founded the Escola de Capoeira Filhos de Angola. The name was a deliberate tribute to Mestre Mucungê, honoring the legacy of the 1960 group. This decision reflected Camaleão's commitment to preserving and transmitting the lineage he had inherited.

In the 1990s, Camaleão became one of three mestres who co-founded the "Vadiando Entre Amigos" (Playing Among Friends) movement—described as "one of the most beautiful movements of capoeira angola." Alongside Mestres Marrom (based at Ladeira Ary Barroso do Copaleme) and Formiga (based at Morro da Igrejinha in Niterói), Camaleão organized itinerant rodas designed to promote interaction and solidify the different expressions of Angola in Rio.

The format was revolutionary: three to six hours of successive rodas with rotating mestre leadership, achieving what participants described as "phenomenal harmony." Groups of capoeiristas would gather at Arcos da Lapa, then travel to Morro do Turano where Camaleão had "prepared his students" for Saturday afternoon sessions. Three years later, Mestres Manoel and Angolinha joined, and the movement spread to São Paulo.

Camaleão is described as "an Astro Rei (Sun King) in this art" who "drank and sowed much capoeiragem" throughout Rio de Janeiro. Sources mention a "discreet past said to be military," though details remain undisclosed.

In 2002, Mestre Camaleão relocated to Marseille, France, where he continues to transmit capoeira angola. His school has expanded across France (Orléans, Assier, La Réunion) and internationally (Mexico, Japan, Portugal). He released the CD "Vai na paz de Deus" (Go in God's Peace). Each summer, he organizes the "Vadiando Entre Amigos" event in Marseille, perpetuating the movement he helped create in Rio.

Today, with over 30 years of teaching experience, Camaleão represents a living bridge between the pioneering generation of Bahian angoleiros who built capoeira in Rio and the contemporary practitioners carrying the art forward across Europe and beyond.