Virgílio Maximiano Ferreira — Mestre Virgílio da Fazenda Grande
Born 3 December 1944 • Salvador, Bahia

Raised in Salvador, Virgílio Maximiano Ferreira learned capoeira at home and in the street. In 1954 he entered the roda under his father Mestre Espinho Remoso at Jaqueira do Carneiro, in Retiro. The music came first. Then the game. Then the responsibility.

When his father passed in 1959, Virgílio kept the circle alive. He looked after the roda and began teaching at the Escola Profissional 1º de Maio. What might have been an ending became a beginning. The neighborhood still had a place to gather, to sing to the berimbau, and to learn the patient craft of Capoeira Angola.

The city later recognized the work. In 2008 he was honored at the Town Hall of Salvador. A life in capoeira also became sound. In 2020 he released the album “50 anos de capoeira”, and in the same year recorded “Na Travessia do Mar” with his student Mestre Roxinho. In 2022 a book about his life, “Black Leader,” was published, fixing his story on the page as well as in song.

Mestre Virgílio stands for continuity. He carries the cadence of Espinho Remoso into the present, holds space for the next generation, and keeps the Retiro tradition close to the heart of Fazenda Grande. His legacy lives where the berimbau leads and the roda listens.