Mestre Joel

Joel de Souza Menezes was born on February 28, 1944, in Santo Amaro, a city in the Recôncavo Baiano that produced legendary capoeiristas including Mestre Traíra, Mestre Caiçara, and Mestre Bimba's own father. Raised in Feira de Santana, he learned capoeira from Mestre Arara (Fernando Vasconcelos), who was a graduated student of Mestre Bimba from the propagation phase (1967-1973).

In 1964, at age twenty, Joel moved to São Paulo state, where he would spend most of his life disseminating capoeira. He founded the Associação de Capoeira Ilha de Itapuã, which became one of the principal capoeira academies in São Paulo and was among the eight founding associations of the Federação Paulista de Capoeira in 1974—the first capoeira federation in the world.

The CMTC Club (Companhia Municipal de Transportes Coletivos), where Mestre Zé de Freitas taught both capoeira and freestyle wrestling, became a crucial meeting point for Bahian capoeiristas arriving in São Paulo. It was at Zé de Freitas's classes there that Joel first met Mestre Brasília and Mestre Suassuna around 1965—an encounter that would shape the future of São Paulo capoeira. Joel became one of Zé de Freitas's students, consolidating his training with the pioneer who had brought capoeira from Bahia in 1959.

Joel 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 gathered. Sources note that "Mestre Chita, junto ao Mestre Ananias e Mestre Joel, é o capoeirista que mais se fez presente desde o início da roda em 1953"—though this may be slightly exaggerated, as Joel arrived in 1964.

In 1971, when Mestre Bimba visited São Paulo at the invitation of Mestre Onça, 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). Joel was among these nine pioneers, alongside Suassuna, Brasília, his brother Gilvan, 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.

In 1972, Joel was formally recognized as a mestre of capoeira by Mestre Bimba himself—a rare honor that connected him directly to the creator of Capoeira Regional.

Joel was a pioneer in recording capoeira music. In 1979, he released his LP "Capoeira" through the Associação de Capoeira Ilha de Itapuã, manufactured by Gravações Elétricas S.A. and recorded at Studio Brasileiro De Som. The album featured prominent capoeiristas as musicians: Mestre Ananias played atabaque and sang chorus on multiple tracks, Prof João Braz contributed pandeiro, agogô, and chorus, Prof Dado served as music director and arranger while playing percussion and berimbau, and Mestre João provided solo vocals and pandeiro. The LP included quadras corridas, berimbau techniques, and Angola ladainhas.

Joel followed this with "Capoeira Raiz" in 1993 and "Capoeira Volume 1" in 1994. As his son Mestre Dadá recalled, Joel was "um dos pioneiros nessa gravação, com músicas que sempre falam da Bahia" (one of the pioneers in these recordings, with songs that always speak of Bahia).

Beyond his academy work, Joel held significant leadership positions: he was president of the Organização Onças de São Paulo and served as national president of the Associação Brasil Capoeira (ABRACAP).

Throughout his career, Joel traveled internationally to spread capoeira, visiting Germany, South Africa, England, Argentina, and Spain. His last trip was to Spain before Carnival 2020, where his family believes he contracted COVID-19. He was hospitalized at Hospital Ernesto Simões in Salvador on May 12, 2020, and passed away on June 3, 2020, at age 76.

Sambista Leci Brandão declared that "a capoeira está de luto" (capoeira is in mourning) and that "Mestre Joel é uma referência da Capoeira Paulista" (Mestre Joel is a reference of São Paulo Capoeira). His legacy lives on through the countless capoeiristas he trained and the institutions he built.