Vivaldo Rodrigues Conceição — Mestre Boa Gente
Born 17 May 1945 • Ibicaraí, Bahia → Ilhéus → Salvador

Mestre Boa Gente found capoeira the old way—by watching, listening, and stepping into the circle. In 1956, during the feast of São Sebastião in Ilhéus, he saw João Grande, João Pequeno, and Mestre Antônio Cabeceiro play. The streets became his first school. With Cabeceiro, he learned to read the berimbau, to answer the rhythm with patience, and to treat every jogo as history in motion.

Fate carried him to Salvador, where he trained for years at the Escola Baiana de Capoeira Angola under Mestre Gato Preto. He appears in Hilkka Rautavaara’s 1963 photos, part of a generation that tied Ilhéus to the Lower City lineage. In 1970 he moved on from formal training with Gato, but the cadence stayed with him.

Boa Gente’s path also ran through the wider world of combat arts. Impressed by his game, Valdemar Santana (o Leopardo Negro) invited him to train at his academy; in 1974 Boa Gente became Bahia’s vale-tudo champion. In 1972 he helped Professor Lee found the Tae Kwon-Do Association of Bahia, adding timing and distance from karate and TKD to his Angola base. Visits to Mestre Bimba’s academy—thenunder Mestre Vermelho 27—gavehim the hard training and discipline he wanted.

In 1981 he founded the Associação de Capoeira Mestre Boa Gente, and from there he turned practice into service. He taught across Vale das Pedrinhas, Nordeste de Amaralina, Santa Cruz, and spent about 17 years at the Colégio de São Paulo da Bahia. He helped pioneer capoeira in schools for children and adolescents, using music, ritual, and jogo to support learning and self-confidence.

His circle widened overseas—workshops and talks across Brazil, the United States (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas), Portugal (Lisbon), and Australia. He shows up along the Palmares timeline as well: I Batismo de Capoeira Ajagunã de Palmares on Ilha de Santa Catarina(1987). In 1993, he trained Mark Dacascos for Only the Strong. In 2000, he joined Mestre Gato Preto and others at the 500-years of Brazil commemorations in Porto Seguro.

Today, Mestre Boa Gente still teaches daily in Vale das Pedrinhas. His work carries a simple promise: let the berimbau speak first, use the game to build people, and make the roda a place where community learns to stand together.

Selected milestones

• 1945 — Born in Ibicaraí (17 May)

• 1956 — Begins with M. Antônio Cabeceiro in Ilhéus

• 1960–1970 — Trains with M. Gato Preto at the Escola Baiana de Capoeira Angola (Mirante do Calabar)

• 1963 — Appears in H. Rautavaara’s photos of the Escola

• 1972 — Co-founds the Tae Kwon-Do Association of Bahia with Professor Lee

• 1974 — Vale-tudo champion of Bahia (Leopardo Negro school)

• 1981 — Founds Associação de Capoeira Mestre Boa Gente

• 1987 — Photographed at I Batismo Ajagunã de Palmares, Ilha de Santa Catarina

• 1993 — Trains Mark Dacascos for Only the Strong

• 2000 — Participates in Brazil-500 celebrations in Porto Seguro