Ricardo de Ilha de Maré

Ricardo de Ilha de Maré was a capoeirista from Ilha de Maré, one of the islands in the Bay of All Saints (Baía de Todos os Santos) near Salvador. Little is known about his life beyond his crucial role as one of the teachers of Mestre Waldemar da Paixão, who would become one of the most influential figures in capoeira Angola history.

Ilha de Maré, where both Ricardo and Waldemar were born, was home to a strong capoeira tradition. The island produced several notable capoeiristas, including Mestre Totonho de Maré (born 1894), who was one of the co-founders of Gengibirra, the first centro of Capoeira Angola. This suggests that Ilha de Maré maintained an active capoeira community throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with local mestres like Ricardo preserving and transmitting the art to younger generations on the island.

In his 1989 interview with Mestre Luiz Renato, Waldemar explicitly identified his four teachers: "I had four mestres: Siri de Mangue, one; Canário Pardo, two; Talavi, three, and Ricardo from Ilha de Maré, four". Waldemar emphasized that he "asked these men to teach me so I could become professional", indicating that he sought out Ricardo deliberately for instruction.

Waldemar was born on Ilha de Maré in 1916 and began learning capoeira in 1936 at age 20. By that time, Ricardo was likely an established practitioner on the island, possibly one of the elder capoeiristas who maintained the tradition there. While some of Waldemar's other teachers (Siri de Mangue, Canário Pardo, Talabi) were based in Santo Amaro, Periperi, and other mainland locations, Ricardo represented the island tradition that Waldemar grew up with.

Waldemar later stated about his teachers: "All of them were good and I learned from each one. So I need to give the credits to them all". This acknowledgment speaks to Ricardo's significance as a teacher, even though his name is far less documented than those of Waldemar's other instructors.

After completing his training around 1940, Waldemar moved to Salvador and began teaching in the Corta-Braço slum (later known as Liberdade), where his famous barracão would become one of the most important meeting points for Bahian capoeiristas. Through Waldemar's students and lineage, the teachings of Ricardo de Ilha de Maré continue to influence capoeira to this day.

The island of Ilha de Maré is remembered in capoeira tradition through songs and verses, and it produced at least two documented mestres (Ricardo and Totonho de Maré) who shaped the art in the early 20th century. Ricardo's legacy lives on primarily through Mestre Waldemar, whose preservation of traditional capoeira Angola has influenced countless practitioners worldwide.