Mestre Deraldo

Deraldo was one of the foundational figures in establishing the Bonfim capoeira lineage in Rio de Janeiro. A native of Bahia, he came to Rio de Janeiro in the early 1950s along with his brothers Irineu dos Santos and Zé Grande—all from the dos Santos family, unrelated to their teacher Mário dos Santos (Mário Buscapé) despite sharing the same surname.

When Mário Buscapé began teaching capoeira at the Cavan company where he worked, Irineu was his first student. Through Irineu, Mário soon won other followers, including Zé Grande and Deraldo. On January 6, 1953, they founded the Associação Cultural Bonfim, also known as "Capoeiras do Bonfim."

The group initially occupied a small space in the neighborhood of São Cristóvão. As historian André Lacé wrote: "They didn't stay there for long, because the space became small due to the large number of students. They moved the academy to the neighborhood of Olaria, a spacious and pleasant place, and there they never stopped, training great capoeiristas."

The Bonfim group, led by Mário Buscapé, became famous in Rio de Janeiro for training high-level competitors who often won the competitions that began being organized in the city from the mid-1960s.

In 1969, when Mário Buscapé returned to Bahia, Deraldo and his brother Zé Grande took over leadership of the Bonfim group. While Zé Grande served as president, Deraldo was instrumental in the daily teaching operations. The group's headquarters was later established in the Bonsucesso neighborhood, and it continued to flourish under their direction.

Deraldo was directly responsible for graduating Mestre Soldado in 1973. According to Mestre Soldado's testimony, at age 18 he "started training with Mestres Deraldo and Zé Grande (the president of the Bonfim group)" at the main headquarters in Bonsucesso. "In 1973, Soldado graduated from Mestre Deraldo and began teaching for the group," creating the Santa Barbara nucleus in the Bandeira 2 community in Del Castilho, where he taught until 1980.

Mestre Gary (Mestre 22), who began training at Bonfim in 1957 at age 12, learned from both Deraldo and Zé Grande. Recalling the capoeira scene of the 1960s and 70s, Gary listed the prominent capoeiristas: "Zé Grande, Deraldo, Luiz do peito queimado, Zé Pedro, Mentirinha, Cilas, Touro, Travasso, Celso do Engenho da Rainha, Corvo, Bogado, Martins, Marlon—and myself, Mestre 22 da Bonfim."

Deraldo, along with his brother Zé Grande, Mestres Dentinho, and Mintirinha, is credited as one of the initiators of the capoeira roda at the Festa da Penha. By the 1970s, this roda established itself as one of the main street rodas in Rio de Janeiro, taking place during the festival month (October-November).