Roberto Pereira began practising capoeira in 1985, in Timon, Maranhão, with his teacher Emiliano, now Mestre Canoa. In 1989, when he returned to his hometown of São Luís, he became a student, friend and compadre of Mestre Jorge Navalha (Jorge Luiz de Souza, 1963-2020). In recent years, he has dedicated himself to learning the razor game with mestre Kaká (Cláudio Serafim), guardian of this ancient traditional.
He took a degree of film direction at the Darcy Ribeiro Film School (RJ) and has a doctorate and post-doctorate in Comparative History from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He was a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Department of History (2019-2020). He is the author of Rodas Negras – capoeira, samba, theatre and national identity (Perspectiva, 2023) and A capoeira do Maranhão entre as décadas de 1870 e 1930 (IPHAN, 2019). He has directed and scripted films shown at national and international film festivals and events, many of them related to capoeira.
