Luiz Américo da Silva, better known as Mestre Mintirinha, was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1950. Brought up in the neighbourhood of Bonsucesso, in Rio de Janeiro's Northern Zone, he started training in Mestre Paraná's famous backyard while still a child.
Matthias Röhrig Assunção (2020, August)
Soon Luiz Américo stood out as one of the most brilliant students of this first Bahian master in Rio. He learned to play the berimbau, something rare among capoeiristas in Rio in the 1960s. .
He began to circulate in the rodas de bamba of that time and was impressed with Mestre Artur Emídio’s fast game. As he admits in the interview, he was inspired by him to create his own style of super-fast play and corresponding toque, which he called Barravento. He created his own group with his master still alive, but continued to participate in the presentations of M Paraná.
In the 1970s, he won several capoeira competitions, and even taught the students of Mestre Mário Santos when the latter split from the rival Bonfim group. He became an inspiration for a new generation of capoeiristas. He continued to teach in his group Terra until the year of his death in 2022.
Illustration: among the many achievements, the diploma of CBP – Confederação Brasileira de Pugilismo – awarding Luiz Américo da Silva (Mestre Mintirinha) the title of champion by team in the I Capoeira/Conjunto Interstate Tournament of 1973. Photo: Mestre Mintirinha collection.
