Mestra Joana Cavalcante
Salvador, Brazil
Joana has been involved in the art of music and dance since an early age. Joan of Arc da Silva Cavalcante, granddaughter of yalorixá, Dona Maria de Quixaba, priestess of Ylê Axé Oxum Deym, one of the oldest of the Pina neighborhood as a child, attended religious and cultural activities within the neighborhood. She has worked as a performer, teacher, and choreographer throughout Brazil and continues to inspire us with her unique style merging the traditional and new. Breaking down barriers and discrimination, Joana was referenced as the master of drumbeats of Maracatu Encanto Pina Nation in 2008, the first woman in the history of a nation maracatu to hold this position.