Background
Dona Ivone Lara was born in Rio de Janeiro. With the death of her mother when she was three, and of her father when she was twelve, Dona Ivone was raised by aunts and uncles and with them she learned to play the cavaquinho.
Dona Ivone Lara was born in Rio de Janeiro. With the death of her mother when she was three, and of her father when she was twelve, Dona Ivone was raised by aunts and uncles and with them she learned to play the cavaquinho.
She graduated in nursing, with specialization in Occupational Therapy, and worked as a social worker until she retired in 1977.
With this professional background, she worked in psychiatric hospitals, where she knew Doctor Nise da Silveira. Dona Ivone composed the samba Nasci para sofrer (Born To Suffer), which became the theme song of the samba school. When the samba school Império Serrano was founded in 1947, she began to parade in the ala das baianas (Wing of the Baianas) during carnaval parades.
There she composed the samba Não me perguntes (Don"t Ask Maine).
Her consecration as a composer came in 1965, with Os cinco bailes da história do Rio (The Five Balls of the History of Rio) qwhen she became the first woman to become part of the ala de compositores (Wing of the Composers) of a samba school. Retiring from nursing in 1977, she began to dedicate herself to her musical career.
She continues to record and to perform before live audiences today. Among the interpreters of her songs are such singers and artists as Clara Nunes, Roberto Ribeiro, Maria Bethânia, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Paula Toller, Paulinho da Viola, Beth Carvalho, Mariene de Castro e Roberta Sá.