Lazaro Santos dos Prazeres was born in Salvador de Bahia, July 28, 1966. In 1976 he began to study capoeira under the guidance of Mestre Zel and then Mestre Dalma; both students of Mestre Nô. In 1980 he became a direct student of Mestre Nô, graduating to become Contra-Mestre in 1990. That year he founded his own group Guerreiro de Palmares (at that time it was normal for students of Mestre Nô establish their own groups, still tied to the Palmares lineage).
In 1995, he was hired as the first teacher of Capoeira in the project Cidade Mãe, an initiative of the municipality of the city of Salvador, Bahia Brazil to aid children in difficult circumstances. That same year, he traveled to the United States for the first time, and remained there for three months doing workshops and folkloric performances. By 2000, Mestre Lazaro graduated to the highest level of Mestre (white level) and covered Mestre Nô’s group while he traveled internationally. Today Mestre Lazaro coordinates the work of various Palmares Capoeira groups in Brazil and throughout the world.