MM0015 – Guarda de Congo de São Benedito de Belo Horizonte
Minas Gerais is the state where Congado most managed to resist and recreate itself, fortunately everywhere there are many groups. This album brings a little more of this wealth that is the Brazilian Congado. There were 5 albums on Congado, others will come. It is certainly one of the strongest traditions of our people, it exists in almost all the states of the country, certainly from Pará to Rio Grande do Sul. But it faces difficulties like everything that concerns Culture in our country, and because it is made by the people and not having the support of public institutions, can easily be extinguished, as has already happened with various groups and demonstrations throughout the country. What keeps Congado alive is the faith and devotion of the congadeiros. In this album, we can feel this faith and devotion, which makes Congado a very deep form of RELIGARE, which is the true meaning of religion. At all times they are reconnecting with the sacred, with the universe and especially with the next. For more and more nowadays we live an individualism and we care about the material and individual part of the day to day, which takes our time, we care the maximum with the members of our family. Congado reminds us that we need to relate to the sacred and especially to have a collective experience, where the neighbor is not a competitor, but a brother. Congado proposes full communion. Here we will hear the words of Capitã Odete and we will see all this meaning that Congado has in the lives of these people, how he is an excellent educator in the poor communities where they are practiced, and also where even if living with the most basic, everything is divided in this community the word of Christ has value and the love of neighbor is lived broadly, even with all the contradictions and difficulties. We need to learn these values because they will be very important for us to be able to walk to a better World.