Osvaldo Lisboa dos Santos,Mestre Parana, born in 1923 was one of the best berimbau players in history. He was born in Salvador, Bahia in 1923, and was the first to play the berimbau at Orquestra Sinfonica do Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (The Symphonic Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro). He also had a part in the film “O pagador de Promessa”. He travelled all over Brazil showing capoeira and the incomparable sounds of his “berimbau gunga”, recording a double CD by CBS (Capoeira Mestre Paraná), which was the first Capoeira CD to be recorded. Invited by Mercedes Batista, he went to Portugal to show capoeira as it was played in Brazil.
Mestre Paraná founded Grupo de Capoeira São Bento Pequeno, in the 50’s which contained the starting point of Grupo Muzenza. On 7 th of March 1972, at Iapase, Rio de Janeiro, victim of a sudden heart attack this great man died, leaving an irreplaceable space in the Art.