Marco Buscapé

Marco Buscapé was a capoeirista from Salvador, Bahia, active in the mid-20th century. He was the son and student of Zé Bedeu, who passed on the art of capoeira to him.

Marco Buscapé was the cousin of Mestre Roque (Roque Mendes dos Santos, born 1938 in Cachoeira), who would become one of the four founding lineages of contemporary capoeira in Rio de Janeiro. Through his father Zé Bedeu—who was the brother of Chico Preto (Liberato Francisco Xavier)—Marco was part of a family of capoeiristas that included his uncle and cousin.

The family was rooted in the Nazaré neighborhood of Salvador, where Chico Preto raised his family. Both Zé Bedeu and Chico Preto were capoeiristas during a pivotal era—the period surrounding the legalization of capoeira in 1937, when the art transitioned from illegal street practice to recognized cultural expression.

**Important distinction:** Marco Buscapé (son of Zé Bedeu) is a distinct person from Mário Buscapé (1934-2021), the famous mestre from São Francisco do Conde who founded the Capoeiras do Bonfim group in Rio de Janeiro. Mário Buscapé's father was José Bidel dos Santos (Mestre Bidel), not Zé Bedeu. These represent two separate family lineages in capoeira history.