Quadra da Estácio de Sá

The Story

The working-class neighborhood where Ismael Silva and friends founded the Deixa Falar bloc in 1928, creating the syncopated rhythm that defines urban samba to this day. It was Ismael Silva who coined the term 'escola de samba', inspired by the teacher-training school across the street. The Estácio's samba was deliberately different from that of the hills, looser, more percussive, built for street parades. A street in the neighborhood bears Ismael Silva's name.

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