The Story of Las Azaleas, a Team of First-Generation Mexican American Horsewomen on a Two-Year Journey to Represent the United States at the National Charro Championships in Mexico.

Escaramuza: Riding From The Heart, a new documentary by Robin Rosenthal and Bill Yahraus, will have its broadcast premiere on PBS as part of Latino Public Broadcasting’s arts and culture series VOCES ON PBS on Friday, October 5, 2012, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month.

Every weekend, at rodeos from Illinois to California, teams of young Mexican American women climb onto sidesaddles in elegant charra suits or ruffled adelita dresses and weave their galloping horses through dangerous, high-speed ballets known as escaramuzas, from the Spanish word for “skirmish.” Escaramuza: Riding From the Heart follows one Southern California team, Las Azaleas, on their quest to represent California and the United States at the National Charro Championships in Mexico, where “to be Charro is to be Mexican.”