Mestre Marrom

Ronaldo Alves de Oliveira, known as Mestre Marrom, was born around 1970 in São Paulo to a Bahian family that had recently migrated to the city. His father, Mestre Baixinho (José Eloy de Oliveira), along with uncles Guerreiro and Macete, brought capoeira traditions from Bahia to the periphery of Greater São Paulo.

Marrom began training capoeira in 1978 at the age of eight under his father's instruction. The training took place at the family home in Taboão da Serra, a peripheral municipality of Greater São Paulo where housing infrastructure was limited and many families lived on the margins of social inclusion.

In 1983, at approximately age thirteen, Marrom became one of four co-founders of the Grupo de Capoeira Angola Irmãos Guerreiros, alongside his father Baixinho and his uncles Guerreiro and Macete. The group's headquarters, affectionately nicknamed "Senzalinha" (Little Senzala), was established in the garage of the family home that Baixinho had built in the 1970s. The space was adapted and decorated to create a conducive environment for capoeira practice and other cultural manifestations.

The name "Irmãos Guerreiros" (Warrior Brothers) references the founding brothers and emphasizes familial bonds and warrior spirit—a collective identity rather than an individual founder's name.

For several years, the Irmãos Guerreiros received supervision from Mestre Pé-de-Chumbo (Gidalto Pereira Dias), one of the first angoleiros to develop capoeira Angola work in this new phase of the art in São Paulo. Pé-de-Chumbo, a student of Mestre João Pequeno de Pastinha, helped establish a lineage connection to the traditional Bahian Angola masters.

Marrom pursued formal education alongside his capoeira path, graduating with a degree in Physical Education in 2012. This professional qualification enabled him to teach both capoeira and physical education in schools, extending the group's reach into formal educational settings.

By the mid-2000s, Marrom held the rank of Contra-Mestre, as documented in the 2005 CD release "Maré de Março." He has since been recognized as Mestre, though the exact date of his graduation to this title is not documented.

Today, Mestre Marrom is "at the forefront of the group's activities" in São Paulo. He coordinates capoeira rodas, events, workshops, and projects at Senzalinha and other núcleos of the group. The traditional Senzalinha roda takes place on Fridays, when students join visitors from other groups for the capoeira ritual.

Under his leadership, the group maintains its mission to preserve and disseminate the traditions of Capoeira Angola and other Afro-Brazilian manifestations, using popular culture as an engine capable of generating social changes. Regular classes cover different aspects of Capoeira Angola, as well as the foundations of Samba de Roda, Maculelê, and Puxada de Rede.

In November 2018, the group celebrated its 35th anniversary with a four-day program in Taboão da Serra, attracting approximately 500 participants from various Brazilian states and international visitors from Germany and Chile. The celebration included a CD launch ("Do quintal da Senzalinha para o mundo" by Mestre Perna and Varão), simultaneous classes with visiting mestres including Mestra Gegê from Bahia and Mestre Plínio, and an open roda and graduation ceremony at Teatro CEMUR.

The group's international expansion began in 2002 when Mestre Perna (Márcio Lourenço de Araújo), who started capoeira at age 9 with Baixinho and Marrom, moved to Bremen, Germany. Today, Grupo Irmãos Guerreiros has núcleos in Portugal (Lisbon, Porto), Germany (Bremen, Leipzig, Jena, Greifswald), Austria (Vienna), Poland (Wrocław), Slovakia (Prešov), and Norway (Oslo).