Biography
Paivinha, born João Paiva dos Santos, championed the samba tradition as a celebrated mestre-sala during the era of the ranchos, the community groups that later evolved into samba schools. He acquired the distinctive mestre-sala dance steps from João Dias, whose own instruction came from Hilário Jovino. At Morro do Pinto in Rio de Janeiro, he served as mestre-sala for the rancho Ninho do Amor. Near 1910 he entered the ranks of Flor do Lírio, then moved the following year to Flor do Abacate, where he stayed through 1913 before transferring first to Mimosas Cravinas and later, in 1925, to Ameno Resedá. In 1930 he rejoined Flor de Abacate and, amid the rising prominence of samba, took on a representative role with Deixa Falar. He also performed as an actor with both the Companhia Bataclan Negra and the Companhia Negra de Revista while working as a journalist. In 1958 the Associação de Escolas de Samba do Brasil awarded him first place in its Citizen Samba competition as the delegate of the Paraíso do Tuiuti samba school. After repeating that victory in 1959, 1961, and 1962, he received formal recognition as the official Citizen Samba of the City of Rio de Janeiro. The Confederação Brasileira das Escolas de Samba then named him Rei do Samba the following year. Holding this permanent title, he appeared as guest of honor at numerous Carnival events, among them the I Simpósio Nacional do Samba in 1966.