Mestre Formiga

Mestre Formiga is a capoeira angola mestre based in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, who has dedicated his life to the rescue and preservation of capoeira angola in the tradition of Mestre Gato Preto. He is the founder and leader of Grupo Ilê de Angola, one of the most important angola groups in the Greater Rio area.

Formiga trained under Mestre Zé Baiano, the renowned angoleiro from Caraguatatuba, São Paulo, who himself was formally graduated in Capoeira de Angola by Mestre Gato Preto in 1986. This places Formiga in a direct lineage stretching back through Gato Preto to the old mestres of the Recôncavo Baiano: Pastinha, Waldemar, and Cobrinha Verde. The Portal Capoeira describes him as a disciple of "Mestre Zé Baiano (lineage of Mestre Gato Preto, Berimbau de Ouro da Bahia)" who "always developed excellent work in rescue and preservation of capoeira angola."

By the early 1980s, Formiga was already teaching capoeira in the Badu community of Niterói. In 1984, a young Ricardo Pereira dos Santos—who would later become Mestre Ricardinho—encountered Formiga's class while passing by the Cruzeiro community center. The sound of the berimbau drew him in, and he became one of Formiga's earliest students. Ricardinho later recalled: "I heard the sound of the berimbau for the first time. I was enchanted by that sound and went in to see. I found it magnificent, something that touched my ancestry deeply."

In 1996, Formiga and his students formally established the Associação Grupo de Capoeira Ilê de Angola, headquartered in the Igrejinha community at Largo da Batalha, Niterói. The organization's mission is to "foment the culture of the people and for the people—Capoeira." The name "Ilê" references a traditional terreiro (Afro-Brazilian spiritual house), reflecting the integration of capoeira with candomblé traditions that characterizes Formiga's approach.

Formiga's space at Morro da Igrejinha in Pendotiba became a gathering place not just for capoeira training but for cultural preservation more broadly. Portal Capoeira describes how visitors would enjoy Sunday rodas at his terreiro, followed by vadiação sessions that combined physical practice with spiritual elements, communal meals (Formiga's peixada—fish stew—is mentioned), and music sessions.

In the 1990s, feeling the need to promote interaction and solidarity among the different styles of capoeira angola developing in Rio, Formiga joined with Mestres Marrom (from Ladeira Ary Barroso in Copacabana/Leme) and Camaleão (from Morro do Turano, Tijuca) to create something new. They began organizing itinerant rodas—meeting at different locations around the city to play together, exchange knowledge, and share their visions of the art. Thus was born "Vadiando Entre Amigos" (Playing Among Friends), described as "one of the most beautiful movements of capoeira angola." These events, held from approximately 1999 to 2002, lasted three to six hours each and featured many of Rio's most respected angoleiros.

Mestre Zé Baiano has collaborated extensively with Formiga in the Rio de Janeiro and Niterói areas. In 2005, when Zé Baiano released his DVD "Tributo à Mestre Gato Preto" in Caraguatatuba, Formiga was among the invited mestres.

Today, Mestre Formiga continues to lead Grupo Ilê de Angola and organize regular rodas. The "Roda do Ilê na Glória" takes place on the third Sunday of each month at 11:00 AM at Centro Cultural Rose Muraro (Glória), co-organized with Professor Ricardo. The "Roda do Formiga" occurs on the fourth Saturday of each month at 6:00 PM at Igrejinha (Largo da Batalha, Niterói).

His student Mestre Ricardinho achieved professor ranking in 1992, became contramestre in 1996, and is now a mestre in his own right, continuing to spread capoeira angola through teaching at various institutions in Niterói and through community projects.