Waldemar Rodrigues da Paixão

Waldemar Rodrigues da Paixão (February 22, 1916 – 1990), known as Mestre Waldemar (Valdemar, Waldemar da Liberdade, Waldemar do Pero Vaz), was a Brazilian capoeira mestre and musician from the state of Bahia. He is considered one of the most artistic and skillful capoeira Angola players of his time.

Waldemar lived in the Corta-Braço slum, a poor neighborhood in Salvador, later known as Liberdade. He held capoeira rodas in his backyard shed (barracão) every Sunday. He kept his rodas open to all capoeiristas, regardless of their style. Mestre Waldemar's roda became one of the most important meeting points for Bahian capoeiristas.

Biography

Waldemar Rodrigues da Paixão was born in 1916 on Ilha de Maré. He started learning capoeira in 1936 at the age of 20. His learned from teachers such as Canário Pardo, Peripiri, Talabi, Siri-de-Mangue, and Ricardo of Ilha de Maré. In Waldemar's roda, there was a referee with a whistle to control the games. Capoeiristas often arrived at the roda armed, but their respect for Mestre Waldemar showed as they handed over their weapons to the bartender while they engaged in the game.

His learning method did not involve repetitive sequences:

Recordings Music: Leeds, Anthony, Sound recordings of Afro-Bahians, collected by A. Leeds, 1951–52. Archive of Traditional Music, Indiana University. Audio recordings and brief notes. Dreyfus, Simone, Bahia, Brazil capoeira, October 31, 1955. Paris, CNRS/Musée de l'Homme. Edited in the LP Brésil n.2 Bahia, Paris: Musée de L'Homme MH16, 1956. Paixão, Waldemar da, & Silva, Washington Bruno da, Mestre Waldemar e Mestre Canjiquinha, record; 1986.

Videos: Robatto Filho, Alexandre, Vadiação, film, 1954. Queiroz, Mércia; Ottoni, Ricardo, Em cena: Capoeira, IRDEB, 1986. Video. Chagas, Raimundo & Silva, Wanda, Berimbau, Salvador:IRDEB, 1989; O Som dos Instrumentos program; video.

Heritage

In Bahia, there is a neighborhood and a street named after him.

Literature Carybé, Hector Barnabó Paribe, a.k.a., Jogo da capoeira, Salvador: Livraria Turista, 1951; Col. Recôncavo, nº3, p. 8. Abreu, Frederico, O Barracão de mestre Waldemar, Salvador: Zarabatana, 2003. Rego, Waldeloir, Capoeira Angola, ensaio socio-ethnográfico, Salvador: Itapoã, 1968, pp. 61, 279; Shaffer, Kay, O Berimbau-de-barriga e seus toques, Rio de Janeiro: MEC, 1977 Monografias folclóricas 2, pp. 21–22, 26–27, 29, 35–37, 41, 47–48, 50, 52, 55. Tavares, Odorico, Bahia Imagens da Terra e do Povo, illustrated by Carybé (Heitor Barnabo Paribe); Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 3rd ed. 1961 4th ed. 1964, pp. 177–178;