icardo Granderson is in pain. His back has been out for several days, but it doesn't stop him from kicking over the head of a 4-year-old girl. He doesn't wince or hold back. A boy no more than 10 stops the warm-up to complain about a cut on his toe. "Does it hurt?" asks Granderson. Before the boy finishes saying "no," exercises resume. During the week, Granderson wears a crisp suit and bow tie to his law office in Manhattan. But few of his colleagues know the lethal acrobat he turns into after he shuts his briefcase for the day.
His 20 students at the Restoration Dance Theater in Bedford-Stuyvesant only know him as "Queimado" the Portuguese word for "burnt." A nickname is an essential part of Capoeira -- the Brazilian martial art Queimado, pronounced keh-mah-doh, teaches and has practiced for 13 years. A once-a-week class on Saturday afternoons brings together mostly boys ranging in age from 4 to 14 to learn about Capoeira and themselves. His class is only one hour each week, but Queimado's lesson for every day resonates: life is not easy. There is always a dilemma in the world of work or in life, and Capoeira provides solace, he says. "Capoeira is the embodiment of a culture of black people. It is illustrative of life and struggle -- the struggle of being an African-American." But in Capoeira, there is always a way to conquer a difficulty or an opponent for every takedown, there is a strike. Some arrive early to the class. They intently study their warm-up movements in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Queimado puts on traditional Capoeira music and raps on a tambourine. "Did you eat?" he asks the class first. He demands responses, as well as movements, in unison even if the class is divided into beginner and advanced groups. "You all must be together," he says rhythmically.
Queimado, 37, is in his fifth year teaching the Capoeira class. "It's not heavy-duty because the kids are young," he says. "But there's a lot of potential." Between drills, he teaches in a forceful and deliberate voice the history of Capoeira and he quizzes them on their nicknames and what they mean. When the beginning class is told to sit against the wall to observe the advanced class, he reminds them to watch and learn. "Don't sprawl out like you're on vacation," he says. Some children then spring from limp positions.
