Mestre Lua de Bobó

Edvaldo Borges da Cruz, known as Mestre Lua de Bobó, was born in 1950 in Arembepe, a fishing village on Bahia's northern coast. As a child, he moved with his mother Dona Maria Borges da Cruz to Salvador, settling in the Engomadeira neighborhood. Around age fifteen, his friend Bel introduced him to Mestre Bobô (Milton Santos), and young Edvaldo began training at the Academia de Capoeira Angola Cinco Estrelas.

For more than twenty years, Lua apprenticed under Bobô, training on packed earth ("em terra batida") in the backyard at Dique Pequeno do Tororó. Initially called "Olhar para Lua" (Look at the Moon), he eventually became known throughout Salvador's capoeira community as Lua de Bobó—his name forever linked to his master.

On April 5, 1987, at the Clube Regatas Vasco da Gama on Dique do Tororó, Mestre Bobô formally graduated his first generation of mestres: Lua de Bobó and Môa do Katendê. The evaluation panel included legendary mestres João Grande, João Pequeno, Vermelho (27), and Dona Romélia (Mestre Pastinha's wife). That same year, Lua founded the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Menino de Arembepe (GCAMA) and organized his first "Encontro de Capoeira Angola" at the Associação dos Pescadores Unidos de Arembepe, attracting illustrious Bahian capoeiristas including Bobô, João Pequeno, Virgílio, João Grande, Curió, and Pelé da Bomba.

In 1990, Lua made his first international trip, demonstrating capoeira in Atlanta, USA—the first of many journeys abroad. That same year, GCAMA began classes in Salvador at Clube Regatas Vasco da Gama, sharing the space with Mestre Bobô until 2001.

After Mestre Bobô's death in 1994, Lua became one of the principal keepers of his lineage. In 2002, he returned permanently to Arembepe, teaching classes and hosting his annual January gathering—always near his birthday and the group's anniversary. After years of struggle and with help from admirers, in January 2005 GCAMA inaugurated its headquarters on beachfront family land inherited from his parents. Located in front of Arembepe beach, the space became what his community describes as "um verdadeiro reduto angoleiro, uma fortaleza mágica construída pelo próprio Mestre" (a true angoleiro stronghold, a magical fortress built by the master himself).

Lua has transmitted his knowledge to three mestres: Eliseu Valverde in Salvador (no longer active), José de Almeida "Mestre Zequinha" of Escola Raiz de Angola in Piracicaba, SP, and his eldest son Erivaldo Borges da Cruz "Malhado," graduated at the 2015 annual gathering in Arembepe. His sons Eri and Ari have trained under him since childhood, participating in Mestre Bobô's classes while Bobô was alive, and continue his work today.

GCAMA has expanded with núcleos in Curitiba, PR (2013, led by Nelma and Bel at Terreiro do Pai Maneco) and Rio Claro, SP (2014, led by Fábio and Junior). In 2002, Lua also accepted to guide the work of Carlinhos Ferraz, who now leads Capoeira Angola Resistência e Arte in Switzerland.

In 2010, Lua was among the qualified candidates for IPHAN's "Prêmio Viva Meu Mestre" award, recognizing mestres aged 55 or older who have fundamentally contributed to capoeira's transmission and continuity in Brazil. Today, Mestre Lua de Bobó remains one of the few living capoeiristas from Mestre Bobô's Academia de Capoeira Angola Cinco Estrelas who still preserves and actively teaches the lineage left by his master.