Mestra Sandrinha

Sandra Eugênia Feitosa was born in 1959 in the favela of Pavãozinho, nestled in Rio de Janeiro's Zona Sul between the wealthy neighborhoods of Ipanema and Copacabana. She grew up in poverty, attending São Pedro do Pavãozinho primary school. As a young girl, she received shoes from CAMDE (Campanha da Mulher pela Democracia), a conservative Christian women's movement—a detail that captures the economic hardship of her early years.

At the age of ten, Sandrinha began training capoeira under Mestre Roque at the Associação de Moradores do Pavão/Pavãozinho. Roque was one of the founding Bahian angoleiros who had brought capoeira to Rio's favelas, co-founding Grupo Filhos de Angola in 1960. For young Sandrinha, the academy at Morro do Pavãozinho became a second home.

In the 1970s, she taught at Grupo Bantus de Capoeira, founded by Mestre Roque. She performed with Grupo Sabata on Rua Riachuelo and appeared in the show "A Night in Bahia" (Uma Noite na Bahia)—a folkloric production that Roque's Filhos de Angola also participated in. She traveled to Salvador to perform with Filhos de Obá, experiencing the heart of Bahian capoeira culture firsthand.

Sandrinha was also graduated by Mestre Caiçara, the legendary and controversial angoleiro from Salvador known for his hard fighting style, powerful voice, and iconic bengala. This dual lineage—Roque in Rio and Caiçara in Salvador—connected her to both poles of the Capoeira Angola world.

According to Mestre Roque's own testimony, he "graduated the first capoeira mestra in Brazil." This recognition came in the 1970s, making Sandrinha the first woman to formally receive the rank of mestra in Brazilian capoeira history. The 2023 UNICAMP study by Ábia Lima de França confirmed her as one of three pioneering mestras, alongside Tonha Rolo do Mar (a historical figure who taught razor technique to Cobrinha Verde) and Cigana/Fátima Colombiano (consecrated mestra in 1980 by Canjiquinha).

Beyond capoeira, Sandrinha built a professional career. In 1977, she passed the civil service exam and began working as a prison guard at Frei Caneca prison in central Rio de Janeiro. She was promoted to "C Class" in 1991. At some point, she relocated to Brasília, where she currently resides.

Her story represents a breakthrough in a male-dominated tradition. She trained in the same favela where she was born, rose through a lineage that stretched from Bahia to Rio, and became a pioneer who opened the door for the 296 female mestras now documented across Brazil and abroad.