While these Afro-Brazilians lived in poverty, they thrived culturally, from practicing Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Candomblé, to organizing Rio’s first samba gatherings. It was in Pedra do Sal that the first Carnival took place.ranches” – the beginnings of Rio’s now famous samba schools, the clubs that create the Carnival parades – and where the first samba circles appeared, earning it the nickname “cradle of samba”. Some of the most Big names in Brazilian music have performed here, including João da Baiana, Pixinguinha and Donga.
Yet just over 100 years ago, it would have been impossible for these communities to imagine that samba would one day form the foundation of Brazil’s national identity. Rio’s elite distrusted samba and criminalized it. “Samba was persecuted and the police arrested musicians like criminals and broke their instruments,” Tavares said.
For this reason, samba gatherings took place in secret and behind closed doors. One of the most famous houses for samba nights belonged to Hilária Batista de Almeida, known as Aunt Ciata, who is remembered as an influential figure in the development of Rio samba. His legacy lives on at Casa da Tia Ciata, a cultural space preserving its history, just off Pedra do Sal.
Samba is not the only African cultural manifestation to be persecuted: capoeira, a martial art disguised as dance, was also perceived as a threat, leading public authorities to ban it in the 19th century. Tavares explained this story by pointing to a group of figures in different capoeira positions painted on a street wall just 200 meters from Pedra do Sal. Next to them was a portrait of a man called Zumbi dos Palmares, who, she explained, was the leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares.