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darren bartlett - o zelador-a story of capoeira - bantam films - dvd

Genre: Brazil

Great DVD about Capoeira master, Russo. A highly informative and beautifully shot film with a great score too. Recommended!!

On the 13th July 1973, a group of young boys gathered to play the traditional Afro-Brazilian game of capoeira. Amongst these youths was a boy with the nickname Russo (Russian). This idealistic act has today, with its continuation, shown that The Roda of Caxias is now perhaps one of the most traditional capoeira rodas (meeting, literally �circle�) in the world today.

With some of the most famous capoeira mestres (masters) having spent time playing in the Roda over the years, this has been a very important place in the contemporary history of capoeira, surviving through the politically unstable 70s and 80s when all forms of cultural expression were persecuted. Mestre Russo has been a continuous presence through all these hardships. He has recognized its cultural value and maintaining the Roda of Caxias has become his life�s work.

But the story of Mestre Russo does not stop there�

In the early 90s Russo was approached by a group of young boys from his neighbourhood who sought to train with him and develop their capoeira. This region of Rio de Janeiro, known as Baixada Fluminense and is one of the most deprived regions in the area. It is still today troubled by death squads. Russo took this group of youngsters into his heart and into his family. He now considers them his sons. Supported throughout this work by his wife Eliane, and living in conditions of extreme poverty, they have shown that in today�s money/media driven society there still exist people who are impoverished materially but spiritually rich beyond the norm.