Mestre Ziza

Mestre Ziza, born Pedro Rosemberg de Alcântara da Silva, is a Rio de Janeiro capoeira master whose career spans the formative period of modern capoeira organization in Brazil. He was instrumental in founding two significant capoeira groups and training the next generation of mestres.

In 1975, Ziza co-founded Grupo Irmãos Unidos das Nações Africanas (IUNA) together with Mestres Rui Henrique and Bené (Benedito Rodrigues dos Santos). The group's name—"United Brothers of African Nations"—reflects the Afro-Brazilian consciousness that characterized the capoeira movement during this period, as practitioners actively reclaimed and celebrated the African roots of their art. The acronym IUNA also carries cultural significance, referencing the iúna—a sacred berimbau rhythm traditionally played only for mestres and advanced practitioners.

During the 1970s, Ziza was part of the vibrant capoeira scene in Rio de Janeiro. He participated in the legendary roda at Mestre Zé Pedro's academy in Bonsucesso, which operated every Sunday morning from 1973 to 1979. This roda became "a key reference in Rio de Janeiro's capoeira" and attracted only experienced players—the bambas—for games described as "hard," with full-contact kicks and headbutts. Inexperienced capoeiristas would go just to watch the bambas play.

In 1987, Ziza co-founded Grupo Resistência in Rio de Janeiro together with Mestre Puma (Paulo César Almeida do Prado). This marked a new chapter in his career as he focused on building a new organizational structure and training the next generation. The group established itself as a training ground for serious practitioners.

Ziza served as a mentor figure, most notably forming Paulo César Almeida do Prado as Mestre Puma in 1996. Mestre Puma had begun capoeira in Sergipe in 1977 and rose through the ranks of Grupo Resistência to become a mestre after nearly two decades of dedication. Puma would go on to become an effective member of the superior council of masters of the Brazilian Capoeira Confederation (CBC) and the International Capoeira Federation (FICA), and founded the Academia Brasileira de Capoeira (ABC) in 2016.

Ziza's career thus represents a bridge between the pioneering generation that established organized capoeira in Rio de Janeiro during the 1970s and the institutional structures that would carry the art forward into the 21st century.