MESTRE SUASSUNA

Mestre Suassuna









Mestre Suassuna, as he is known, was born in Bahia in 1938. Reinaldo Ramos Suassuna, born in Ilheus and raised in Itabuna, started to practice Capoeira in the beginning of the 50’s, against his will. Due to a physical handicap in his legs, the doctor recommended that he involve himself in a sport that was not soccer. Under the influence of two friends that had begun Capoeira and his medications, Suassuna started to practice this Brazilian art.

Suassuna states that in the beginning he had not liked Capoeira at all because he had difficulty learning the ginga and its unique sway and he lacked rhythm to sing, but with time he started to enjoy the taste of capoeira so much that he began to take his training seriously and at this point his mother thought he was sick or ill.

When Suassuna started Capoeira he did not fixate himself to a group, but rather, he learned to love capoeira as a whole, independent of whether it was Angola or Regional. He met people from the Academies of Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha. He participated in presentations in Salvador with Mestre Canjiquinha, Gato, Caicara … and all of this has served as an excellent base for developing his work and arriving to where he is today: international recognition.

At the beginning of the 60’s, Suassuna shone in Bahia with his Capoeira presentations and consequently many invitations from other states and from abroad were offered. In 1965, after two of his friends kept on insisting for him to come to Sao Paulo, he left Bahia and went to the land of the rain with the intention of opening an Academy and succeeding in life with Capoeira. His mission was to develop Capoeira as folklore and as a sport.

At the beginning it was very hard; he was far from his friends, he worked at various jobs, went through financial difficulties, needless to mention how much he missed the old Bahia.

After a lot of struggle, he met some people from Itabuna that took him to Ze Freita’s Academy, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That is where he met Mestre Brasilia. In 1967, together with Mestre Brasilia, he founded the “Associacao de Capoeira Cordão de Ouro”.

Today, Mestre Suassuna is dearly liked and respected. He is proud to see that his group’s work is well structured and full of creativity, with members found all over the world.

His many doings include various presentations, the recording of 5 cds, the directing of the Show Group of Cordao de Ouro, the creation and development of the “Miudinho Game” and the conducting of workshops and seminars in several states in Brazil and around the world.

Reference:

* http://www.epitaciocdo.cjb.net/ (retrieved in March, 2003).
* www.capoeiradobrasil.com.br (retrieved in March, 2003).