Full name: Ubirajara “Bira” Guimarães Almeida
Known as: Mestre Acordeon
Born: 1943 – Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Lineage: Student of Mestre Bimba
Known for: Internationalization of capoeira; founder of UCA; author, musician, researcher

Early Life and Formation

Ubirajara Guimarães Almeida, known worldwide as Mestre Acordeon, was born in Salvador, Bahia, in 1943. He began training capoeira in the late 1950s under Mestre Bimba, becoming one of the influential members of Bimba’s later generation of students.
By 1959, still a teenager, he opened his first small academy at his home in Boa Vista de Brotas, attracting students interested in a physically demanding and culturally rich approach to capoeira.

In 1966, he founded the Grupo Folclórico da Bahia, one of the first groups to present capoeira on stage. Their show Vem Camará: Histórias de Capoeira, performed in Rio de Janeiro, helped establish the concept of grupo de capoeira and influenced the development of what would become modern Capoeira Regional.

National Recognition

During the 1970s, Mestre Acordeon won three Brazilian National Capoeira Championships, affirming his technical skill and creative approach to the game.
Alongside teaching, he continued performing with folkloric ensembles and collaborated with artists and cultural groups throughout Brazil.

Bringing Capoeira to the United States

In 1978, Mestre Acordeon emigrated to the United States. By early 1979, he began teaching capoeira on the West Coast, a defining moment in the global expansion of the art.
For the next decades, he became a central figure in establishing capoeira communities across the U.S., inspiring a new generation of teachers who followed his path.

He founded the United Capoeira Association (UCA) and later the Capoeira Arts Foundation in Berkeley, California. Through the foundation, he supported Projeto Kirimurê, a social program for children in Itapoã, Salvador.

Artistic and Cultural Work

Mestre Acordeon is also a prolific musician and author, with:

• 9 recorded CDs

• 3 DVDs

• Multiple books and articles, including

  • Capoeira: A Brazilian Art Form — the first capoeira book published in English

  • Água de Beber, Camará

  • Capoeira Arts Café

His artistic output helped shape how capoeira was studied, taught, and understood in the Americas.

Major Honors

In 1994, he became the first capoeira artist to receive the Tinker Visiting Professorship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, recognizing his work as a teacher, researcher, and cultural ambassador.

In 2008, the City of Berkeley declared October 18 as “Mestre Acordeon Day”, honoring his 30 years of continuous work in promoting capoeira on the West Coast.

The Bicycle Journey (2013)

At the age of 70, in 2013, Mestre Acordeon undertook one of the most ambitious cultural projects of his life:
a 14,000-mile bicycle journey from Berkeley, California, to Salvador, Bahia, accompanied by his wife, Mestra Suelly, and nine students.

The goal was to raise awareness and funds for Projeto Kirimurê and to document the evolution of capoeira in the Americas through film, music, and writing.

Legacy

Mestre Acordeon is widely regarded as:

• One of the most important capoeira mestres of the modern era

• A pioneer in the global spread of capoeira

• An influential teacher whose students now lead schools worldwide

• A historian, writer, and musician whose work helped define international capoeira culture

Even after more than five decades of teaching, he continues to travel, perform, research, and inspire thousands of practitioners around the world.