Original subtitles

And love and peace to my beloved hippies,

if there are any among you.

MARCH 31, 1964.

A MILITARY COUP DEPOSES PRESIDENT JO�O GOULART

AND THE ARMY FORCES TAKE CONTROL OF BRAZIL.

APRIL 9, 1964.

THE INSTITUCIONAL ACT 1 IS ENACTED REVOKING THE POLITICAL TERMS

OF THOSE AGAINST THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT.

DECEMBER 13, 1968.

THE INSTITUTIONAL ACT 5 IS ANACTED LIMITING ALL TYPES OF CIVIL FREEDOM.

THE AI-5 CENSORED APPROXIMATELY:

500 FILMS, 450 THEATER PLAYS, 1.000 SONGS.

During AI-5, Brazilian citizens had no rights.

Everything was forbidden.

We were slaves to this awful Dictatorship we had in Brazil

for a long time.

It was probably the mostop pressive time of the Dictatorship,

the hardest time.

We were really confined. Things were said between lines,

as a subtext.

I remember very clearly because my dad was a politician.

And especially because I saw him leave for exile.

Until then the Dictatorship was mild,

we thought it would fall apart at any moment.

But then it became a hardcore Dictatorship,

a State terrorism, which lasted until 77 or 78.

The government ruled through Institutional Acts,

the famous AIs.

The AI-5 was the last straw.

They enacted the AI-5, which closed the Congress.

AI-5 came into effect on December 13th, 1968.

It was unforgettable.

Everything was forbidden, Congress was shut down,

"We are in charge now."

They put an end to individual freedom.

The government simply became too extreme.

Just like any dictatorship, they think they own the truth,

and those who do not take part in the scheme,

are cut off, repressed...

Even killed.

AI-5 was a horror institution.

I was arrested during the Dictatorship, lost my Brazilian citizenship.

People were arrested for making music, writing poetry...

I witnessed the very end,

but today's generations have no memory

of the military Dictatorship.

They were dualistic: Either you supported the right,

or you were a communist and were arrested.

Teaching slum people to read made you a communist.

There wasn't an alternative.

"Roda Viva", when they invaded the theater, beat us up,

and threw us naked on the streets,

I didn't understand why.

I performed for the Censors.

It's awful when the State has so much power over you.

Solange Hernandes.

You see how powerful Dictatorship was.

We memorized the name of the censor.

"What part of the song do you want me to remove?"

"The problem is not the song but the idea."

Some of the songs were completely literal, innocent,

and people found a hidden anti-Dictatorship meaning.

It was pathetic!

Just in time the Dzi Croquettes emerged.

Going against the closing of people's minds.

No one could think, no one could be different,

no one could freelyexpress themselves.

It was a way of opposing the Dictatorship through sarcasm.

We could no longer do it seriously.

We were in a dictatorship against which

an essentially political theater was put on,

and the Dzi Croquettes were like an explosion.

They criticized the traditional institutions,

but in a fun way.

Excuse me, where is Father Jacques?

They prohibited the show because they thought it was weird,

they couldn't understand, and thought it revolutionary.

Release the butterflies.

Let's fly with them.

Let's look for the flower, the color,

the horizontal, the vertical, the space.

Let's find the birds and fly with them.

Let's look for the sky, happiness, God.

Fly, butterfly! Fly! Fly!

Fly! Fly!

I remember they opened their wings like huge butterflies,

dancing to "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."

It was an explosion of the new and modern,

that androgenous thing.

They were gorgeous men who dressed as women.

But no one wanted to be a woman.

Women, men, androgenous... Those wonderful naked bodies!

They were hairy, had hairy legs and beards.

You saw strong hairy men; they didn't shave.

Their walk was strong, they danced like men,

dressed as women, with a dubious sexuality.

It shook people's sexual structure.

On stage, the mix of men and wigs, the boa...

Dzi Croquettes' work was unprecedented,

avant-garde, unique!

Their shows were always sold out.

When they went to Europe,

Liza Minnelli and Andy Warhol were there.

There was an important scenic severity,

which was what Lennie Dale expected.

It wasn't a gay show.

There was a great deal of sexuality,

male, female, or homosexual.

They fully exercised their sexuality.

They are the symbol of an era, the glamour era;

they were male, female, very sexy on the stage,

and extremely funny.

No one called them queer, no one had the guts to,

because they were extremely talented

and were above any kind of mockery.

They weren't really engaged in institutional politics.

But of course all acts are political,

and there was a behavioral revolution,

of sexual liberation,

and moral values in relation to masculinity and femininity,

and they were pioneers of that.

They were very creative and engaged

in supporting political opening and freedom.

No... If it's just for fun, then don't count on me.

No!

No!

Thinking comes first.

Against the square ideas,

which was part of the military government.

They did it in 72, 73.

Then they came to Rio and the show was prohibited.

They were prohibited and had to testify.

But, besides nudity, the censors couldn't find anything else.

The behavioral, sexual musical revolution

in the structure of the dance,

which knocked down concepts and preconceptions,

was much stronger.

But nudity was liberated if they wore larger briefs.

They couldn't find any threats,

but they knew it was a time bomb.

And we are not women either.

It's a different story.

We are people.

They were extremely bright,

many of them spoke different languages.

I want to introduce you to my secretary.

My pleasure! It's a bit crazy today, I'm sorry.

Not only did I see Dzi Croquettes but also saw what they meant

in terms of freedom of the theater language,

of seeing men dressed as women,

who were not transvestites and didn't behave as such.

People couldn't even say they didn't like it

because everything was so new, eccentric, original.

They were extremely original.

There was a number that I just loved, with Aldir Blanc's song

"Dois pra l�! Dois pra c�!" Sung by Elis Regina.

We were rehearsing for the opening,

and Lennie got Elis' record, which she had sent to him.

There was a letter talking about children,

and Lennie was very touched by it.

He got the record

and started rehearsing "Dois pra l�! Dois pra c�!"

For Wagner and himself.

Wagner didn't have a dance number.

Gaya learned it too, so they shared it.

And it was a big hit.

It was just beautiful!

It was a ballroom dance.

Later on, Gaya and I performed it at Teatro Rival.

I danced that bolero with Gaya.

The scene between Cl�udio Tovar and Cl�udio Gaya...

I loved it! Cl�udio Gaya, Cl�udio Tovar!

In which they danced a bolero sung by Elis Regina,

I saw them do it.

Lennie had choreographed it for Wagner and himself.

It brought tears into your eyes.

They brought to the stage the love between them,

and the audience accepted it very gently.

It was an excellent drama scene.

It reachedan unforgettable point.

There were moments of drama, of an actor's performance,

which would have please deven Peter Brook.

And it did.

They went to Europe and were a big hit.

Legend says Baijart saton the first row many times.

They were a group of 13.

THE FAMILY

Dzi Family 'Dzi Croquettes'.

THE MOTHER

Wagner came from a big family.

So everything for him was related to the family.

When he formed the Dzi Croquettes, he formed a family.

BENEDITO LACERDA: 'OLD' - NIECE

There was the showand the story of the family.

BAYARD TONELLI: 'BACIA' - AUNTIE

The greatest outcome of our success

was the love and affection for the family.

ROG�RIO DE POLY: 'PATA' - DAUGHTER

It was a family of women, and the father was the only man.

CIRO BARCELOS: 'SILINHA' - DAUGHTER

Lennie was the father, Wagner was the mother.

CL�UDIO TOVAR: 'CL�' - NIECE

Wagner gave Lennie the role of the father.

THE FATHER

The daughters were Paoletti...

Gaya...

Because you will not understand.

Ciro Barcelos...

I was the youngest, Silinha Meleca. Wagner's name was Silly Dale.

I was the youngest one, so they called me Silinha,

the little silly one.

- Ciro and Rog�rio. - Pata.

I danced with my butt sticking out, like a duck.

And there was also Lotinha, one of the daughters.

Are you understanding it? You need an explication?

The mother had 3 sisters: Bayard who was aunt Bacia.

I was the aunt, who took care of the money

and Reginaldo was the queen.

He was the queen because of his pose.

And there was also Roberto.

Aunt Rose.

Those were the mother's sisters.

There were two nieces: Myself, called "Old".

I loved England, so he called me "Old City London.

And also Tovar.

Hi, mommy!

When I saw that open door right in front of me,

I went to the dressing room, asked him to join them.

Lennie wasn't so sure about it, and I said, "I want to join now.

Can I put something on and stay here?"

I put on a dress and make-up and stood back there.

I came back on the following day,

and brought something else.

I simply joined them.

And Eloy came in later.

He was a maid, the magician of the company.

Move your ass!

No bad language, ok?

Do like Carmen Miranda. That move you tried before.

- No bad language, please. - Of course.

I want to sell the movie to Brazil. Vender

THE MOTHER

Wagner came from the state of S�o Paulo.

From a huge family from the country.

Their spiritual mentor was really bright.

He was a great comedian!

And wrote the comedy for the show.

- Wagner Ribeiro was the philosopher. - An impressive person.

He created the idea, wrote the script,

many of the songs were his.

Wagner didn't play any instruments,

he wasn't a musician but he wrote songs.

We recorded two of his songs: "Vingativa" and "Crisi Darling."

"Vingativa," which was a big hit, a wonderful song

That's why I am vindictive

He came to Rio to go to Med school.

He gave up to beca mean artisan and study Theater.

The first thing I tried was Medicine.

He studied Medicine for 2 years

and became an artist, actor, and author.

Inventive, always in a good mood...

The most incredible person I've ever met.

I never saw an artisan like him.

Little pieces... All sew up by hand.

It's a masterpiece.

Everything began with the handicraft...

because Wagner was the; hippie" bazar founder.

Whenever he answered the phone, he'd say,

"Martian Embassy."

They used to hang out at Wagner's home.

Wagner had a very strong Catholic side,

and felt guilty for being homosexual.

He had a serious problem.

When he found out he was a homosexual, he couldn't walk for a long time.

He was a crazy Cancerian, fantastic... A hard worker.

Wagner used to assume his prophet side.

I say nice things to people about love;

there are lots of nice things in the script.

As Wagner used to say...

- "Love conquers all." - "Love conquers all."

This frase: "Love conquers all,"

in a world of wars in which we live...

I told him I thought there was only one way

we could change things in our country, through armed conflict.

He convinced me, and I still remember,

"Child, instead of guns...

why don't we make art?

It's so much nicer!"

By the theater door, as people came in, he'd preach love,

he'd preach compassion.

We were based on Jung.

It didn't sound corny.

Talking about him makes me miss him a lot.

- How are you? - Great, honey. And you?

I'm really excited!

Boa noite to the Brazilians.

He used to speak in a high-pitched voice.

'Bonsoir to the French'.

He spoke with a high-pitched voice.

Did I poop?

With his little voice.

Pretending to be a woman; it was hilarious.

Hello, to the cool guys.

'Lmpatient people eat raw food because they want.

Cause there're a lot of good things out there to eat, darling.

Wagner was hilarious!

Wagner controlled the audience in any language.

Always with a strong accent...

I need my secretary to speak French,

because French is a very difficult language.

Wagner Ribeiro had a great teaching method,

with live theater technique, always improvising.

Freedom, absence of a fourth wall,

opinion, humor, sense of criticism...

Wagner Ribeiro was the precursor of 'Besteirol'.

We were labeled as 'Besteirol'.

After smoking a lot of weed, you become 'besteirol'.

The way he did it was incredible!

I am dressed as a woman, wearing a wig,

and singing in a falsetto voice.

Singing is better!

It's better than this...

The so-called 'besteirol theater', which thrived in Brazil in the 80's,

that's where it all started.

Wagner's comedy, his interaction with the audience,

that nonsense style. It worked!

Louder!

And that served as inspiration...

Miguel Falabella, Mauro Rasi, Vicente Pereira, Guilherme Karan...

We followed them wherever they went.

It was our source of inspiration.

Miguel Falabella, Luiz Fernando Guimar�es,

Regina Cas�, D�bora Bloch and I.

I think Dzi had great influence...

on that type of comedy.

When Wagner came down the steps, he grabbed the audience by the hand

and gave them a lesson in comedy...

I watched the birth.

THE BIRTH

On August 8th, 1972, I was at Galeria Alasca,

Wagner stopped by and invited me for a beer.

I called all my friends at the Drama School

to do a show.

Wagner told me about his dream.

One day, Bayard, Reginaldo, Wagner and myself...

I told them about my idea for a show.

They loved it!

We needed a name.

I mentioned the Croquettes from New York.

We were eating appetizers or something,

and there were croquettes.

We were eating croquettes, and Wagner said,

"Let's call it Dzi Croquettes, "with double "T".

Dzi from the English article "the".

"The Croquettes,"

because we're nothing but croquettes,

we're made of meat.

One day he called me and said he had a name:

"Dzi Croquette".

I laughed.

I was studying Architecture.

I was 18 when I met Lennie , and I went crazy.

I quit everything and went to S�o Paulo.

I began working with amateur theater,

we came to Rio de Janeiro where I met Wagner,

a wonderful man, who had tried group work before.

He was funny and had a script that everyone loved but never staged it.

One day Bayard invited me for an audition.

I didn't know what it was.

They said I had to dress as a woman and wear makeup.

It was a cabaret language but based primarily on Rio's Carnival,

where men dressed as women.

It was the 'Dzi Croquette Family'.

It was a theater play to be staged in Lapa,

at Cabaret Casanova.

Elke Maravilha said I had to meet the guys,

who were playing in a cabaret in Lapa

because they were wonderful.

It's something to be seen, to be learned.

I had a club called Monsieur Pujol.

Lennie and I lived together.

I used to get home and talk to Lennie about the rehearsal.

I wanted to work with Lennie.

I had directed 3 of his shows , but never worked with him on stage.

Lennie was a "star" already.

Lennie decided to take a look at it.

Wagner said, "I'm thinking about calling Lennie Dale."

We set up a meeting.

They came with him to our rehearsals...

To form the bond between Lennie Dale and Wagner Ribeiro.

They met and obviously fell in love.

'Lennie, don't you want to do a show with me at Pujol? '

When I went back home, Lennie said, "I'm in!"

I just loved it!

He said: 1'ut everybody knows what we are going to do, darling'.

The next day, Lennie went with me to Wagner's house...

'Baby, let's do something different'.

When I watched the rehearsals, I noticed that the boys...

had such willpower,

but they lacked dance skills.

And the rest became History.

'I know a spectacular group called Dzi Croquettes...'

So Lennie gathered the clumsy Brazilians,

and made them work eigth hours a day,

dance...

At the end we were all exhausted.

I went to the club and he was sitting on the street,

listless...

I asked him, "What happened, Lennie?"

"You can't trust those faggots.

No one showed up.

Let's go in and do our own show."

If he didn't understand that, it wouldn't had happened.

But Mi�le is a man of the world.

He doesn't have that kind of limitations that the great majority has.

As I opened the club door,

there was one guy hanging from the lamp,

one on the counter, on the table, three on stage...

They were singing with playback;

Dzi, Dzi, Dzi Croquettes

The international

And Mi�le was fascinated. Everybody with make up...

Paulette singing and doing all that stuff...

Mi�le looked at us laughing...

'Who are these girls? '

I said, "How much? We have to do this."

He bet on it and it was a huge hit!

Rio de Janeiro went crazy.

With all that, Lennie Dale was leaving prison,

he convinced Mi�le of gathering everyone in one great show.

That's how Dzi Croquettes were born.

I already knew Lennie.

THE FATHER

Lennie came to Brazil, to dance with a whip.

I met him first in 1963.

He was Broadway's great promise as a dancer.

I did "West Side Story, "The Pajama Game,"

"Guys and Dolls," and a number of TV shows.

I was a child star at the age of 10, I had my own TV show,

with a singer called Connie Francis.

I was working in a show as a dancer

and he was hired by a businessman of the Rio night, Carlos Machado.

Machado saw him in a show and brought him to dance.

Then I met Carlos Machado.

He came to perform 'The Marijuana Dance'.

And Lennie Dale appears, coming from U. S.

I fell completely in love with him!

"That's it! That's the dance!"

A great musician. He played piano very well.

He began to come to the places we went to

and fell in love.

He fell in love with Brazilian music, Bossa Nova, and sambajazz.

He fell in love with the music,

the melody, harmony and rhythm.

I first met Lennie when he arrived in Brazil.

I was 17.

I was 16, and used to go to 'Beco das Garrafas',

an area in Copacabana full of bars.

There was jazz and Bossa Nova; I was crazy for music.

"Bossa" is an adjective for someone doing something

in a certain way, with affection.

"He played the guitar with a wonderful 'bossa',"

meaning he had a swing, a way of playing it.

The swing began to change.

"He's playing with a different beat."

It is the "Bossa Nova".

And I soon met Lennie,

he was very popular at 'Beco das Garrafas'.

'No, that's good, darling'.

'My dear, it's divine! '

'He have to do this wonderful thing! 'Guys! What's is this, my dear? '

He was a very friendly guy.

We're talking about Rio de Janeiro in 1961 or 1962.

Everything was really square.

Lennie'd say, "Slow down, now go faster..."

"No!

We'll change the key and also the harmony.

You can't have the same harmony."

He was very smart.

He learned it, processed it and then taught it.

He didn't want to change that music.

He wanted to embrace it.

In a completely weird key.

So people said, "You can't do that".

"Why not, baby?"

"It's never been done."

"And because of that, it can't be done? Is it wrong?"

"No, C Major diminished."

"Stop that! It will sound beautiful!"

His guts were unknown to the Bossa Nova guys.

He taught us about lighting, audio, music...

His lighting effects, with blackouts,

light here and there, in sync with the music.

The light had to do the same thing.

Picture that in 1960.

His musical thinking was incredible!

He sang with an American accent...

He didn't have a great voice,

but had great swing and imagination.

He decided to put on a show at the Bon Gourmet club,

where Tom and Vin�cius made their debut,

'Os Cariocas' and Jo�o Gilberto.

I saw the show and went insane watching with him on the stage.

And everybody flipped out.

Lennie Dale was a genius.

His American dance technique applied to the Brazilian rhythm

was never repeated.

He created a Bossa Nova dance, which was like a backwards samba.

The artistic scene in Rio stopped because of him.

"What the heck is that?"

He made very important changes to Brazilian music at the time.

For those who lived close to him, like me...

he promoted boldness, the adventure,

the outlaw side of life.

I saw many shows that he choreographed,

including Elis Regina's.

Elis Regina's greatest influence in the beginning of her career

wasn't a musician or a singer, it was Lennie Dale.

Meeting Lennie Dale was one of the best things

that ever happened to me.

And we'll meet again and again.

Elis had just arrived in Rio,

and they became great friends.

She started using body expressions

based on what he did.

He'd go to her house and teach her to dance.

I loved him. We were really good friends.

He stayed in Brazil and didn't want to leave.

I'm not leaving

We did a lot of crazy things together.

We have a lot, a lot...

a lot of stories!

Bossa Nova wasn't as professional as it is today.

Lennie introduced professionalism to Beco das Garrafas.

He was the strictest person when it came to the stage.

When he was on stage, nothing could go wrong.

He was very strict.

Working with Lennie Dale meant working really hard.

And learning too.

I never saw nothing like that, nobody dances like him.

One of the most incredible dance numbers I've ever seen!

He wore a little thong,

his body covered in glitter, he was bald...

Those round moves.

His swing...

Bob Fosse and Lennie Dale.

What defined Lennie was his strength.

His strength and sensuality.

He was hot!

His dance made you ecstatic!

Watching him on stage was incredible!

He'd drop to his knees

and come back up without using his hands, only his feet.

It was unbelievable!

He would go down diagonally on his knees

and come back up using his toes like that.

I had seen Lennie on TV and was crazy about him.

I watched his show, we talked and fell in love right away.

It was love at first sight.

Dzi Croquettes went to Campinas,

and he made me watch the show from the lighting booth.

I was 8 years old.

Dzi Croquettes were prohibited for all ages, especially mine.

He was an important person for me. My great love of dance.

He took dancing really seriously, but in real life,

he was wild!

We fought so many times because he was a rebel.

He was a real handful, as a person,

besides his artistic side, he was a devil.

I had some tough moments with him.

Like when he tried to kill himself in my house.

He had his child side.

When he cried, he cried a river.

He was very emotional.

You know, Lennie was a pot head.

He had no limits.

He was walking at Galeria Alasca, the police shut it down,

and took everyone to the station.

They recognize Lennie, and the chief of police says:

"Lennie, you forgot your bag."

He remembered there was ajoint in it and said:

"The bag is not mine."

But he forgot that his passport was also in the bag.

"It's not yours? Yes, it is. Let's see."

He empties the bag, sees the passport and says,

"This is your passport."

When he opened the passport, he saw there was ajoint in it.

So Lennie was arrested, and sentenced to one year

in the Lemos de Brito Penitentiary.

He charmed everyone in prison because he gave dance classes.

He'd come in a police car, which was charming,

and get out of the car in his weird outfits,

practically naked.

When the lesson ended, he'd get back in the police car.

The 70's were a very creative time in Brazil.

A new era was beginning,

the glitter movement.

THE HOUSE

We lived together, first in Wagner's house,

then in S�o Paulo, for a long time.

There were two in each room, and Lennie had his own room.

We all shared the bills.

Each one had a role.

Reginaldo was an actor, was in charge of the money.

He ran the house financially.

When he was on stage, he counted the number of people in the audience,

and checked it with the cashier.

That's why he was called the "Queen."

She was the sovereign queen.

He was very noble.

She was noble. I loved his smile, his face.

Rog�rio and Reginaldo were brothers, but completely different,

from Miracema, state of Rio de Janeiro.

Few people could tell we were brothers.

Today I do the laundry, I iron, I cook,

because I lived with them.

There was room for everybody and also the fans...

Our community living worked out well.

It was like a real tribe.

We even had a governess.

She was and still is a beautiful black woman.

Her glamour inspired us.

We called her "N�ga Vilma."

She created a "security mattress" around Dzi to protect us.

She filtered the fans.

I wouldn't let people in, if I had to.

Closing the door on people's face wasn't a problem for me.

She took control, a female control, inside Dzi's story,

which was very important.

People I had never seen would sleep there.

They switched bedrooms... It was a big mess!

She'd travel with us, put up with Lennie's craziness.

She had some authority over Lennie.

They respected me a lot.

She was like a lightning-rod

against negative energies. She was half-witch, half-fairy.

Their home was a complete wreck.

So I had to put things in order.

When they quarreled, I made sure I was around,

because things would take a couple of hours to calm down,

either with a fistfight or just talking. That's for sure.

When the fight started, I had to use a whip.

Once I grabbed a hose and threw water at them.

We fought like brothers...

Next thing we know we were hitting each other.

Justice was carried out democratically.

It wasn'tjust one saying what was wrong.

Lennie was in love with me,

I lived with Lennie but I was in love with Rog�rio...

It was totally incestuous.

Cl�udio Tovar was in love with Cl�udio Gaya,

and Wagner with Gaya, and Gaya lived with Wagner.

And so on.

Aunt Rose.

Roberto was also into the visual aspect, he loved to draw.

He was serious on stage, didn't laugh much.

Roberto was my boyfriend.

His main feature was being serious,

like Buster Keaton.

He didn't say much.

But he'd say it all.

A wonderful artist!

It was funny, because he was short,

and I'm tall...

he was black and I'm pale.

People didn't understand.

He was a powerful artist, but also an introvert,

so he never really showed his work.

People said, "Are you dating a gay man?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

First comes the mind, and then the rest.

And there were also the girlfriends from outside.

They also made us jealous. It was visceral.

In S�o Paulo, at the 13 de Maio Theater,

Eloy shows up he was from S�o Paulo.

He was a dresser at first.

He earned his space.

ELOY SIM�ES 'ELOINA' CLEANING LADY

He was on a show with two other people

and tried to approach us

and ended up as the group's dresser.

Always smiling, always doing something kind...

Lennie brings him into the group, since it's Lennie who pays him.

And makes him his own dresser.

He became everyone's dresser...

He became Dzi's dresser.

All dressed up!

He was an incredible artist and created his own characters,

because he had to cross the stage.

He would not cross unnoticed.

He stayed as the dresser the whole time.

But he earned notorious numbers in the show.

In S�o Paulo.

In 1973, at the 13 de Maio Theater,

on 13 de Maio Street, Bexiga, S�o Paulo.

It was an arena theater.

I was sitting on an uncomfortable wooden bench.

I didn't know what to say.

It's like someone had said to me, "Look, that's what life is all about,

being human is about."

Life changed.

I came home, ripped my clothes,

put on some glitter, and designed something.

The Croquette spirit.

I was used to androgyny. I listened to Bowie, and Lou Reed...

But I had never seen it in a theater,

and it was so important for the Brazilian gay movement!

Maybe it was the first great manifestation

of the gay movement in Brazil. It was its artistic translation,

and with a political meaning behind it.

It was fascinating, almost an addiction!

I don't know how many times I saw it. I saw many times.

I saw it many times.

I was a fan. I went practically every night.

Married men with children left their wives to see us.

Psychiatrists, military men, young guys.

Women, married with children, grandmothers screamed and loved it!

There was a whole movement around the show.

People began to dress like them, talk like them, love like them.

That's how I wanna be.

We went to those chic parties in S�o Paulo

wearing the craziest outfits.

We made a girlie version.

We wore hats with flowers, our mother's silk nightgowns...

and we put glitter...

People changed their attitude, their clothes,

the way they are and think.

Being a Dzi Croquette.

Not being part of the show, but being.

I got rid of all feelings of guilt or fear...

I wanted to take risks.

It drove many people crazy it put an end to Dictatorship.

People were no longer afraid of dressing as a woman;

of being queer or not.

"Oh, my mom will find out."

I realized it wasn't just with me.

It became a religion.

People watched it 20 times, some watched every day.

A real 'tiete' doesn't miss one.

What was a "tiete"?

It was the term that Duze made up for the fans.

'Tiete' came from Duze.

Tiete was my mom's friend.

She was very nosy, but with the best of intentions.

She wanted to solve everything.

She'd get into everyone's bussiness...

Whenever it happened, we'd say: 'You're such a tiete'.

I began to use it with the boys, they caught it and spread it.

It's in the dictionary now.

The girls that went to see us, the 'tietes',

they were there every day.

A bunch of women who dressed like us.

And one day Wagner said: 'We have to do something with them'.

'What are we going to do? '

'Let's do a show. '

Then Wagner wrote' Dzi Croquettas'.

The cast of Dzi Croquettas was formed,

by girls who were in love with them.

I freaked!

I saw another world completely different.

When I knew that Wagner was creating the show...

My father had died... I said: Mother, I'll be in a show

It's was on a saturday night. On sunday she said:

'Change your haircut, change your friends, your clothes, yourjob...

or leave this house. ' And I left. Never came back.

We gave them our lives. We chose that life.

I left my family.

We started living that culture during 3 years.

The show didn't matter to us. The show was an excuse.

So we created 'Dzi Croquettas', that was a disaster.

Although I still love it.

From that group of 20 girls...

come to light 'As Fren�ticas'.

'As Fren�ticas' is a consequence of Dzi Croquettes.

We had the experience from Croquettas, me, Lidoca and Lidoka.

We have 3 'fren�ticas' that were Croquettas...

and Edir, who was Carlinhos Machado's sister.

We sang with humor and sensuality,

because we'd saw them so may times...

They had a Croquettes vocabulary.

Have I told you?

No... It's gone.

Are you okay, Mary?

Darling!

The terms were hilarious.

The words, the Dzi dictionary.

They were the only ones who used it.

Me, what?

'My Love', always. 'Have I told you? '

Z�...

Call Z�.

A theater movement, an artistic movement?

It was more! It changed people's lives

and the culture of our country.

We were in S�o Paulo for almost a year.

Then we came to Rio.

That's when we went over big with the audience!

And everyone around us! People tried to break into the theater,

because there were 600 people inside and 1, 200 outside.

It took a while for the censors to understand the threat in it.

They began to pay attention.

"Hold on a second. That bunch of faggots..."

That's how they treated us, "They're dangerous."

When they realized that, they shut it down.

Then came the Censorship,

I was the one who went there.

Then we stopped... During 30 days.

Meanwhile Lennie Dale was runned over.

We pulled some strings and got an interview

with the head of the Censorship.

He called the head of the group,

it should have been Lennie.

But Lennie had been hit by a bus and was in the hospital.

I don't know how he didn't die.

He was leaving TV Globo...

I was chosen.

The bus came and hit him.

I had a suit, maybe that's why.

He broke many bones.

So there I went, talk to the colonel...

He lost all his teeth, broke the clavicle...

broke many ribs...

He insulted me as much as he could.

"If you do again what you did, I'll destroy you."

The doctor said Lennie didn't die because of his body strength.

So when I left, the show had been approved.

I went home, there was no one there.

I laid down and cried and cried.

When we convinced the military that the show was harmless,

Lennie couldn't dance.

It's fantastic to be here dancing in one piece.

We restarted the show in Rio.

We went back to S�o Paulo,

where we made enough money to buy the tickets to go to Europe.

I quit my job, organized a party at my house...

sell practically everything and went with them.

We decided to go to Europe.

N�ga Vilma was the only woman to go with them.

They didn't have a producer. Nothing but guts.

It was an adventure.

We went to Portugal. With tons of clothes,

I think there was actually tons of clothes.

There were two tons of stuff,

the guy in the port looked at it and said,

"You are the Dzi Croquettes. What do you have here?

- Drugs?" - I said, "No, only 3kg."

And we had a lot of pot too.

There were 3kg of pot inside styrofoam balls

that I had glued together. He said, "I'm going to open everything."

I said ok.

He said, "Well, I won't open if you dance for us."

We danced James Brown.

They watched it, applauded, and the guy said,

"You're okay to go. Take it onboard."

It was the end of the Salazar era in Portugal,

and that bunch of ET's showed up.

In Portugal we put a new wardrobe together

because they had wonderful garbage!

They had a problem with the sound guy...

and in Lisboa I started to work with them.

Imagine them, dressed in skirts with lipstick on, in Lisbon.

They were in the middle of the Carnation Revolution,

we didn't make one single penny.

It didn't work out.

Meanwhile we were trying to go to Paris.

Cl�udio Gaya goes to Paris by himself.

What I learned with Cl�udio Gaya...

He was the greatest actor I've ever met.

He was a wonderful actor.

I directed him in one of my firstjobs in the theater.

Nuance, intelligence, how to subvert a word,

how a pause can change ajoke.

If you have any questions, please, ask me.

As you know, it's a Brazilian show.

There are certain things that you might not understand.

It's true!

We don't understand anything ourselves.

The Dzi family began with Gaya and Wagner Ribeiro;

they were the main source it began with their relationship.

I liked him, he was a friend. He was funny.

I think that people related to our open heart,

screaming on stage.

Everyone got into it.

He was a very clever man.

With great knowledge eof theater.

But also very strict, very spartan in certain things.

Gaya was also a great comedian, he had a good comedy timing.

Gaya evaluated the things we were supposed to do.

"Gaya, today I'm going to do this."

"Cool, do it." "No, do something else."

All the tips of a great star, Gaya gave me,

just like Tovar taught me his creative universe.

He had a caustic humor.

He was a really cool guy.

We are loosening up more and more on stage

and also in life.

Gaya went to Paris by himself,

with all the money we had left.

We got a contact number for Patrice Calmettes,

a photographer friend.

We expected anything but that. It was incredible!

Patrice sent the money, we bought the train tickets,

and left for Paris.

We made our debut

and the French press boycotted us.

They didn't knowhow to label the show

and began to boycott us.

They didn't write one single line.

They boycotted us.

Even with all the advertising, the public didn't show up.

Godmother!

That's when our godmother Liza Minnelli showed up.

They were throwing a party for her

and she said she wanted to invite everyone

to watch the best show in Paris.

"There's a Brazilian group called Dzi Croquettes."

So she brought the most important press

in the world, in Paris, to see our show.

We had a second show at midnight

especially for Liza and her guests.

We were having a show at midnight

and Liza invited Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve,

Valentino, Marisa Berenson, all of them.

The biggest fad in Paris was watching Dzi Croquettes.

Brought by Patrice Calmettes from 1973 to 1975,

the Brazilian group Dzi Croquettes will set the Paris scene on fire

bringing fresh new air.

I saw the Dzi Croquettes for the first time in 1977.

I was so excited when I left the show.

As I walked home, I began to dance

with the lampposts I found on the street.

It was like seeing shooting stars.

I decided to take pictures of those wonderful dancers.

I met them because of your father.

My dad met the Dzi Croquettes in Paris

and became part of their technical staff.

It's true that your dad worked with them.

Then I met everyone.

I immediately fell in love with the entire group.

The actors. I remember well...

Cl�udio Tovar, Cl�udio Gaya,

Ciro...

Tovar, Reginaldo, Gaya, Paoletti...

Wagner, Lennie, Eloy, Bayard...

In the audience, Omar Sharif was a big fan.

Jeanne Moreau, Josephine Baker...

I loved it and saw it a number of times.

I saw the show every night at the Hebertot Theater. I was 20.

I watched it every night.

It was an avant-gard show.

Paris was making room for it

and giving them the opportunity to cause an impact

on the Parisian scene at the time.

They influenced many people in show business in France.

They played really well with their bisexuality,

seducing men and women without a problem.

It was very pleasant.

They weren't transvestites, they were real artists.

It's a different philosophy of life.

They used the French language in an incredible way.

They spoke French well but with a very Brazilian accent.

The mix of languages...

They made me discover Brazil, I went back there many times.

How Paris saw the Dzi Croquettes?

Crazy!

Extraordinary! For us they were extraordinary!

They were funny, playful, sensual...

It was new for us.

I had never seenany thing like that.

It was like fireworks.

I learned Portuguese.

Luxurious!

Brilliant! Exactly.

CARLOS MACHADO 'LOTINHA' - DAUGHTER

We went on tour in Italy,

and Josephine Baker was debuting her new show

in a theater, with everything pink for her return.

His name was Carlos, then Carlota and Lotinha.

He was a tiny guy.

Lotinha was one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

A happy smile all the time.

Carlinhos had the nicest smile in the world.

He had a great figure!

His legs and his butt were incredible!

I remember Lotinha's hug.

Was born and raisedin Copacabana, Beco das Garr

He was Elis' great friend and Lennie Dale's great friend.

He was a very important person to me,

he introduced me to Lennie Dale.

I've never met anyone so destitute of negative feelings

in my 59 years of life.

He spoke many languages, was a very a clever guy.

He brought a lot of glamour to Dzi and taught us many things.

The German group took us to Italy.

They never paid us, or the hotel, nothing.

And the businessmen ran away.

We had hotel bills, stage bills, the Odeon Theater!

And we were in the hands of the Italian Mob.

An Italian Mob guy called Schiavone.

When Liza went to Paris,

she brought some people to watch us. And Josephine Baker went...

Josephine Baker was a great singer at the time.

The Bobino theater was reopening,

and she told the owner that, when she died and left,

she wanted the Dzi Croquettes to replace her.

We stayed at a hotel on the Swiss border

and we were worried because we had no shows scheduled.

We received the news that Josephine Baker died on stage.

After one week performing, she had a heart attack and died.

The owner did what she asked him to do.

The phone rang, Josephine Baker died,

it was the Bobino theater

inviting the Croquettes to go back to Paris.

We went back to Paris, to the great Bobino theater.

When the curtain opened, Liza, Mick Jagger, Jeanne Moreau...

All the stars were there.

We were invited to film with Jeanne Moreau,

with Liza Minnelli.

They got rich. They made a lot of money.

It was a success. It was a huge success.

I remember a number Paoletti did in Paris,

wearing a pink and white long dress,

and a wonderful brim hat.

He sang "Ne me quitte pas, "very seriously.

A black guy singing Jacques Brel dressed as a woman

was something rare. Phenomenal!

He lifted up his skirt and showed his shoes, size 14, or whatever,

and the audience cracked up!

PAULO BARCELLAR "PAOLETTl" - DAUGHTER

I think dance came into my life

since I was born, because it's a gift God gave me.

I always felt comfortable dancing,

and it always came easy to me.

That's how I joined the Dzi Croquettes,

because I used to dance at parties and ballrooms.

I danced wherever I went and I always stole the show,

without taking dance lessons.

Paoletti was my best friend.

He never did anything over, he had self-control.

But he was so elegant!

I remember him at the parties, just extraordinary!

Paoletti was extraordinary, his dancing was unique!

I've never seen anyone move like him!

I never had dancing lessons,

but I've always been on TV, I've always loved the scene.

I remember Paoletti dancing to a song by 'Novos Baianos'.

He looked so clumsy, but had a swing.

Paoletti was tall and thin, with huge legs, and so funny!

Paoletti was very polite and sophisticated.

Very funny... Humor is very important.

Humorous people are special.

After Paris, a famous British producer

invited us to go to London and meet him.

We met and talked.

The deal was London for one year, and then Broadway.

"No, we miss Brazil

and we don't know when we're going back."

A farmer from Bahia, who saw us in Paris, invited us...

And that evil spirit invited them to come back.

I was against it and said, "I don't think you should go."

She said, "I don't have a good feeling about this trip.

There's something strange about it."

And it happened.

I didn't want to come.

"What are you going to do in Bahia?

New York is the place to go."

I voted against it and lost.

Most of them wanted to come back to Brazil.

We went to a millionaire's farm.

We stayed in the middle of the jungle

with 2, 5kg of pot and 250g of cocaine.

That's when things start falling apart.

We were debuting in Salvador when a major fight

between Tovar and Lennie Dale over a staircase took place,

and Lennie quit.

The scenery never returned. It stayed in Europe.

There wasn't any money to buy wood

and build a wood structure like it was.

I decided to do something different,

Dzi Croquettes in Bahia, in a public feast.

He built a staircase, and Lennie didn't like it.

A staircase. That's it.

A huge staircase as if we were...

at Largo do Bonfim.

No!

I said, "Tovar."

I thought I was pleasing him.

But I wasn't.

When things went bad,

it was always Lennie who started it.

He was too crazy, doing heavy drugs.

"I'm not doing it. "We had a huge fight.

And he didn't do the show.

I was so insecure...

When we feel insecure we can do stupid things.

He was totally out of reality and things fell apart.

I thought it was just another fight of the millions we had in our group.

No, it was serious.

Why did it end?

It was something so small!

That's when they really split.

There's a time for everything.

I don't know if maybe we'd still be together.

It was really sad.

A relationship between 2 people is hard,

imagine 13 people living together,

loving together, crying together, sharing their success.

Each person needs their own space.

The group splitted.

9 of them stayed and Fernando Pinto came to direct the second show...

with just a part of Dzi Croquettes, without Lennie, without Wagner...

Me and Wagner Mello wrote it.

Jorginho was discovered by Wagner Mello.

We didn't know who could do the Pierrot.

They needed a Pierrot.

The story was about Pierrot, Colombina e Arlquim...

and the Carnaval on stage with Dzi Croquettes.

Claudinho Gaya played Colombina, Cl�udio Tovar, Arlequin...

and I came to play Pierrot.

"Romance" opened, It didn't work out.

It was not a hit.

'Romance' was very square. It was beautiful, but very square.

The second show had a narrative, That the first did not have it.

And that freedom was not there anymore.

They went to Paris, with 'Romance'...

In Paris I saw our name on subway, posters on the streets...

The audience in Paris didn't accept 'Romance'.

It didn't have that uniqueness of the first.

It was more like a musical comedy.

But it served to maintain the group together.

The conclusion: We stopped with 'Romance'.

And we decided to do another show: "Les Speakerines".

That Dzi Croquette's spirit from the begining...

when each one created a character, our costumes...

became 'TV Croquette'.

Do you make money with Dzi Croquette?

No, but it gives me pleasure. Gave me pleasure...

We did make money at certain times.

We are starting over now. Let's see if it will make money.

Then we created TV Croquette, and the Dzi spirit returned.

It was a hit!

The show was beautiful. In the end Tovar would say...

'lf we're all ignorants, we must be insane. '

It started slowly and became a huge hit in late 70's.

That's when I lost it.

Suddenly I was wearing a dress, with ribbons in my hair...

with Brazilian flags, giving out flyers with your dad.

Your father, he was very important to us, with his knowledge.

Am�rico Issa. You gonna make me cry.

Am�rico designed the lighting.

If I remember your father? Of course.

We did a lot of jobs together.

I remember your father...

I was in a play where Cl�udio Tovar did the set.

I remember your father molding a rose in clay.

A great set designer.

I remember his talent.

A very talented person, precious hands. Everyone loved him.

He redecorated my whole house.

In one week I was in a brand new home.

I liked him very much. I loved him!

Precious Am�rico.

I can say I remember you very young, the cutest thing in the world...

with your father and your mother living with us.

I remember you...

The cutest little thing... Blonde.

I remember when you were little.

Very little.

Yes, I remember very well.

Daddy!

My dad put me to sleep in the theater,

and I watched the show in the dark.

It was like a fantasy, a dream.

But that was my reality.

1980.

Awareness, for me, began in the middle of the 80's.

80 or 81.

81, 82.

Have you ever heard about the 'gay cancer'?

Yes, gay cancer.

When I heard about the 'gay cancer'.

Gay cancer, all that mistery...

A friend of mind ask me:

Have you ever heard about "gay cancer"?

Ridiculous...

It was proved later on that it wasn't a homosexual disease

and that there were no limits to it.

No one knew.

People infected each other without knowing.

I heard that Marquito had the gay cancer.

The first one with that AIDS 'thing' was Marquito.

Marquito, designer of the stars, died in New York.

He was a wonderful designer at the time, a friend of ours.

Marquito died at the age of 30,

a victim of a newly discovered disease, which destroys the body's defenses.

It was the first time I heard about AIDS.

And Marquito died. It was a surprise to us.

It began to spread to our friends.

Some of them were part of the first AIDS victims group.

And it was a shock.

The losses in our group to AIDS:

Paoletti;

Eloy, who died in Europe;

Lennie; Gaya...

I was with Gaya.

I took care of him until the very end.

I remember eating lunch with him,

and he told me, "I have AIDS."

He had accepted it completely, he was fine with it.

Over the years we had surprises in our family.

Lennie returns to Dzi in 1991, ill,

and he asked me as his last wish,

to be with the Dzi Croquettes again.

"Honey, can you put on the show for me?

I can't do it."

I love it! It sounds just like Brazil!

A friendship that lasted decades.

We were friends for as long as he was on the planet.

It's hard not to get emotional.

He was part of everything,

of when my daughter was born, my son was born,

my marriages and divorces, my success and failures.

It's a number we danced together

that he originally danced with Carlinhos.

And in the remake I danced with him.

It was like a farewell. I knew he was leaving.

We'd get closer and closer

and then we hit each other's head,

and he began to cry.

And at that moment everything came back,

way back when I met him at 17, my whole story, everything,

where his hands had led me...

It was very touching, and still is... Today.

I want to be love das Leonardo La Ponzina.

I went to NYC to say goodbye.

He's here.

I know that everything I ever dance, sing or do;

he'll always be here.

I didn't lose him. He's inside me.

Unfortunately, most of them are gone.

They're waiting for us up there.

Eight of them died.

Out of the 13, there are 5 left.

Out of the 8, 4 died of AIDS.

One had an aneurism, Roberto.

Roberto De Rodrigues, Rose, died of cerebral aneurysm.

And three of them were murdered.

The Dzi casualties were not of AIDS only,

some of them were killed,

like Reginaldo.

The Queen, or Reginaldo, was killed in Paris.

Reginaldo's death was very strange...

Someone knocked on the door, he opened it,

just like you open your heart.

He was killed by blows to his head,

and found on the following day dressed like a saint.

The person who killed him had a type of concern,

or maybe regret, and certainly knew him.

Many of them were murdered. Wagner was killed,

Carlinhos Machado was killed.

Someone broke into his apartment.

It was a burglary, they took everything.

They tied him up...

Filled his mouth with rags.

They put socks. It was horrible!

They tied him up in a sheet.

He died all...

He fell on the floor, hit his forehead on the floor

because Roberta Close lived right below.

We believe that he was trying to catch her attention.

He had a tumor here.

And he died suffocated.

Wagner was killed in the ranch he lived

with his French boyfriend.

Wagner was my best friend, my closest friend.

And I...

The guys who had washed his car on the previous day

went back to talk to him; there were three of them.

The boy washed his car, and took a look around.

As Wagner went down to talk to them, he was subdued.

They were told to lie on their belly.

The two of them were immobilized.

Their only chance was to run in opposite directions.

Wagner knew that if he ran, the guy would follow him

and Tony would escape, and that's what happened.

He ran and screamed and was shot under the tree

where he wanted to be buried.

And he was murdered

in the ranch he loved so much.

It devastated me,

the way his life ended.

He was shot in the back.

I often

remember and wonder

how Wagner's last minute was like.

What happened? What happens when you are shot?

I've always thought about it.

Is it the best way for a person like him to die?

But it's an unexpected death, just like his life.

It was a wonderful time!

I can move onto a different atmosphere,

go through earth, very happy.

I can say I'm a happy man.

When something is that real, you can't reproduce it.

It died with them,

but it was for myself, and probably for my whole generation,

a huge influence.

The Dzi Croquettes left their mark in each one of us, artists,

who had the opportunity to see them,

and drank from the spring.

Giving themselves. All that generosity.

Interpreting an important and unconventional moment,

time, vision; it was revolutionary!

They were crazy,

they were free!

My word to describe the Dzi Croquettes

is masculinity.

The joy of freedom.

Dzi Croquettes stirred up people's sensuality and sexuality.

They were revolutionary men who tried to show to the world

that human beings are madeof males and females.

We didn't know ourselves who we were,

we simple were.

They took us to an inner place

and they fulfilled their mission like a comet,

that flew over Brazil, over the world,

and each one of us.

They were certainly very happy.

That's why it was a success.

We've never stopped being Dzi Croquette,

we're not ex-Dzi Croquette; we'll always be.

The way of thinking, acting, doing...

I still have it.

Neither men nor women: People.

Dzi Croquettes, you can't define them;

only those who saw them.

It was wonderful!

Unforgettable for those who saw them.

I see inside myself the mark they left.

Libertarians.

Free and libertarians.

Ciro Barcelos is a successful actor.

His play "S�o Francisco de Assis" was watched by over 1 million people.

Benedicto Lacerda is a tourist guide,

and has taken tourist all over the world for more than 20 years.

Rog�rio de Poly stayed in Paris.

He's still an actor and shares his time between Brazil and France.

Bayard Tonelly is an actor, director, choreographer

and just released his poetry book "Dzi in Verso."

Cl�udio Tovar continued his career as an actor, costume and set designer

and won many prizes, establishing himself in the theater scene.

Am�rico Issa was part of Dzi Croquette's technical staff

from 1976 to 1980.

The end.