Mestre Adilson Camisa Preta

Adilson, known as Adilson Camisa Preta ("Black Shirt Adilson"), was born in 1952 in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in the Morro do Cantagalo favela in Ipanema. He became a student of Mestre Roque, one of the founders of Grupo Filhos de Angola and a pioneer of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro's favelas.

By the early 1970s, Adilson had become Roque's most advanced student. When Roque decided to step back from daily teaching at the Pavao/Pavaozinho academy, he entrusted leadership to Adilson. As Paulo Siqueira recalled: "Mestre Roque was teaching, but he already wanted to leave for personal reasons, wanting to stop there and hand over to his most advanced student, Adilson".

Adilson established himself at the Morro do Pavaozinho in Copacabana, transforming the community space into what one contemporary described as "like a quilombo, where capoeira was practised in a very different way to the academies in the South Zone". The academy served primarily poor residents of the Pavao and Cantagalo hills, operating in a spontaneous, traditional style distinct from the more formal Senzala-influenced academies in the Zona Sul.

Adilson was renowned for his expertise in malandragem - the street wisdom, cunning, and improvisational trickery that formed capoeira's cultural heart. His profound understanding of malandragem extended beyond capoeira technique to encompass the life and ways of his community. This knowledge made him both a formidable player and an influential teacher who could transmit not just movements but the philosophy underlying them.

Beyond the roda, Adilson built connections with important figures in Afro-Brazilian culture. He collaborated with Aroldo Costa and Mercedes Batista, the pioneering choreographer who had been the first Black dancer to perform at Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Theatre. Through Adilson, his students gained access to this broader cultural world. He brought students to perform in concert halls, including Almir Sinclair's "Bahia Saraza" show at venues like the Galeria Alasca and the Intercontinental Hotel in Vidigal.

Paulo Siqueira, who began training at the Pavao academy around 1972, became Adilson's most prominent student. As Siqueira progressed, Adilson told him: "You're not going to pay for capoeira any more. Now you're going to work with me". Siqueira would later describe Adilson as having "great influence in the life of Paulo Siqueira, as capoeirista and person". Adilson remained Paulo's sole mestre throughout his training, eventually graduating him as mestre before Adilson's death.

Adilson died in the 1990s. His legacy continues through Mestre Paulo Siqueira, who went on to found the Escola de Capoeira Nzinga in Germany in 1985, becoming one of the first to bring capoeira to Europe and making it known across the continent. Through Paulo and the Nzinga school, Adilson's lineage now extends from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to Hamburg, Hannover, and Kiel.