Actress Jéssica Barbosa is from the northeastern state of Bahia and was born in the city of Feira de Santana. She is best known for playing the role of Dinorá in the film Besouro, which was released in October of 2009. Besouro is a Brazilian film that tells the story Mangangá, a master of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira in the 1920s who performed heroic and legendary feats. It premiered in theaters in Brazil on October 30, 2009. In the film, Barbosa is the love interest of the protagonist, and represents the orixá (1) Iansã that is associated with winds and storms.
Besouro was the debut film of Barbosa who has been living in Rio de Janeiro. She has practiced Capoeira since she was 12 and trains in with Grupo Flor da Gente (People of the Flower group). Before appearing in Besouro she had never acted professionally. She considers “very symbolic my professional debut in a film shot in Bahia that has Capoeira, mysticism and tells the story of a Brazilian hero.”
Below is short collage of her in action and a photo shoot featuring her rockin’ her natural ‘fro or cabelo black power as it is called in Brazil.
See part 2 of our Jéssica Barbosa gallery here and scenes from her first film Besouro below
Notes
1. An orixá (also spelled Orisa or Orisha) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. (Olodumare is also known by various other names including Olorun, Eledumare, Eleda and Olofin-Orun). This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in practices as varied as Candomblé (in Brazil), Lucumí/Santería, Shango in Trinidad, Anago and Oyotunji, as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others. See more here.
Source: Oliveira Dimas
She is gorgeous! I love her hair 🙂