{"id":82610,"date":"2026-01-29T15:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=82610"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T21:19:03","slug":"its-the-place-of-resistance-of-our-existence-duque-de-caxias-women-led-culture-manor-is-a-hub-for-art-education-and-leisure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=82610","title":{"rendered":"‘It\u2019s the Place of Resistance of Our Existence’: Duque de Caxias’ Culture Manor is a Hub for Art, Education and Leisure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"On<\/a>
From left to right: Alice Safira, belly dance instructor; Rosa Arruda, English and Portuguese teacher and creator of the YouTube channel \u201cAbout Brazil;” Dayse Alves, manager of Duque de Caxias\u2019 House of Culture, radio host, cultural producer, choreographer and ballet instructor; and Ang\u00e9lica Baptista, beauty and wellness consultant. Photo: Fabio Leon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rap battles, DJ-led workshops, rock concerts, festas juninas<\/em><\/a> (traditional June Festivals), Halloween parties, English classes and political meetings to decide the city’s future. In recent years, a bit of everything has taken place on a plot of land located on a picturesque avenue in the Jardim Primavera<\/a> neighborhood of Duque de Caxias<\/a>, a municipality in Greater Rio de Janeiro’s Baixada Fluminense<\/a> region. That is where you will find the Culture Manor Institute<\/a>, known simply as the Culture Manor, which sets the stage for multiple forms of art, culture, education and political engagement in the region.<\/p>\n

The location reflects the socioeconomic changes that Jardim Primavera has undergone over the past six decades: an oasis of the bourgeoisie that learned to coexist with its more peripheral side. The property, built in the early 1950s, blends with the greenery and can almost be mistaken for a small estate. Owned by a family of German descent, the Steiners, the Manor is a synthesis of a past when wealthy residents dreamed of turning Jardim Primavera into the \u201cBrazilian Switzerland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jardim Primavera: A Housing Project for Duque de Caxias’ Bourgeoisie<\/h3>\n

But how did it all start? The neighborhood’s concept came from musician and former race car driver Nelson Cintra<\/a>, who organized much of Duque de Caxias’ so-called \u201chigh society\u201d and other powerful actors from Rio to make his dream of a “Brazilian Switzerland” come true. A champion of street racing circuits inspired by similar races held in Monaco since 1929<\/a>, Cintra helped popularize these competitions, which did not even have a name. He won multiple times, driving his Renault Gordini in cities like Petr\u00f3polis<\/a>, in the state’s mountainous region<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fame helped Cintra make his dream viable. He worked tirelessly lobbying authorities in Duque de Caxias, Rio and S\u00e3o Paulo, as he was both a music teacher at Rio’s Municipal Theater<\/a> and a real estate broker in both states. Cintra was so well-connected socially that among his friends was President Jo\u00e3o Goulart<\/a>. Over time, he founded his own real estate company and became a successful entrepreneur in construction.<\/p>\n

Largely due to Nelson Cintra\u2019s own efforts, Jardim Primavera emerged in 1947 next to what is now the Washington Luis Highway<\/a>. According to the September 2014 edition of the magazine Pilares da Hist\u00f3ria<\/em><\/a>, Cintra gave blood, sweat and tears to turn Jardim Primavera, an old pineapple plantation, into an unprecedented real estate development for the Baixada Fluminense. He \u201censured the streets had curbs, trees and drainage, extended the electric grid to the area, designated space for squares and churches, drilled wells for drinking water and arranged for the construction of a school and even a train station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hymn<\/a>
Hymn to Jardim Primavera. Source: Pilares da Hist\u00f3ria<\/em> magazine, Year 13, September 2014\/Duque de Caxias City Council<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

451 plots were established, ranging from 500 to 1,500 m\u00b2. However, what was meant to be a paradise for wealthy Poles, Germans, Italians, Englishmen and other Europeans couldn’t hold back the influx of lower-income populations who were displaced from other areas or who needed housing to escape high rents in more central parts of Greater Rio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the 1960s and 1970s, various studies show<\/a> that, with the unplanned expansion of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region and the advance of industrialization in the Baixada Fluminense, the local elite gradually left the area, along with a decline in public investment and an increase in urban precariousness. Cities like Duque de Caxias and Belford Roxo<\/a> began receiving a migratory flow from lower income regions, either from other parts of the country or displaced from other areas within Greater Rio. With State neglect<\/a> and a systematic lack of public policies, a new socioeconomic reality imposed itself. During this period, Jardim Primavera witnessed the growth of Favela do Rasta and Complexo do Cangulo, starting in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

The Manor remained fully functional until 1994, when its last resident, biologist \u00c1urea Steiner, passed away. After that, the family abandoned the property and 25 years went by.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this neglect, all kinds of things started happening there. Illegal parties were being held. The furniture in the house was stolen. People began using the residence for sexual encounters. The Manor was turning into a drug hotspot and making the neighborhood more dangerous.\u201d \u2014 Dayse Alves<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Manor’s New Phase<\/h3>\n

Since 2020, the multifaceted Culture Manor has been managed by radio host, cultural producer, choreographer and ballet instructor Dayse Alves. Raised by her grandparents, she had to learn to make a living from a young age. Alves worked as a sales clerk, bartender and children\u2019s entertainer, among other things. “I had to learn to manage on my own and make money to support six children. I think I\u2019ve never stopped a minute in my life. Rarely do I take a day off or go on vacation,” she says.<\/p>\n

In 2019, she was approached by painter Juan Wallace Pinto, known as Ronan, a local artist who had been carrying out some renovations around the Manor for two years. An elderly gentleman, he told Alves he feared the Manor would be invaded and turned into a drug hotspot. He tried to convince her to move into the house and turn it into a cultural hub. In 2020, she accepted his proposal. She evaluated that she needed a bigger place to raise her small children, and committed to offering cultural activities to the community in the space.<\/p>\n

\"Over<\/a>
Over the last five years, Duque de Caxias’ Culture Manor has been managed by radio host, cultural producer, choreographer and ballet instructor Dayse Alves. Photo: Fabio Leon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since he knew Alves and her involvement in various cultural initiatives, such as the Moonlight of Dance<\/a> project\u2014which also operates in Jardim Primavera and where she acts as a choreographer and instructor\u2014the invitation for her to take over the Culture Manor came naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, the family didn\u2019t like this change, saying they didn\u2019t know me. But Ronan convinced them that if I didn\u2019t take over, no one else would. I\u2019ve spent over 20 years carrying out social initiatives in the neighborhood, I’ve coordinated an NGO, I can fundraise and I’ve learned how to get public funding for nonprofits. In other words, I had the right credentials to make me a trustworthy choice for this new chapter.\u201d \u2014 Dayse Alves<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Today,<\/a>
Today, graffiti writing at the Manor represents symbols of identity and belonging, forms of artistic expression, far removed from the site\u2019s past of vandalism. Photo: Fabio Leon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starting From Scratch<\/h3>\n

Along with friends and some neighborhood volunteers, an intensive cleaning of the Manor began. Alves and her family then moved from their former home on Rua 2 to Avenida Primavera, where the property was under restoration. Yet, much still needed to be done: there were no bathrooms, no water or electricity, and the roof needed repairing. They also faced threats from former occupants claiming what wasn\u2019t theirs. On one occasion, Alves and her ex-husband called the police, who caught two suspects fleeing toward the upper part of the property. She was pregnant at the time.<\/p>\n

That same year, Alves held the first events, still with minimal infrastructure. The news of the Manor\u2019s resurgence needed to be swift and visible to local residents. Everyone had to understand that neglect was no longer a reality.<\/p>\n

Once it was known that the abandoned Manor had been transformed into a cultural hub, an educator approached Alves and together they launched the extensive program that would be consolidated from that moment on. Since then, M\u00f4nica Coelho, who holds a master’s degree in education, is\u00a0a member of the Group for Education, Research and Extension for the Initial and Ongoing Training of Educators of Children in Situations of Social Vulnerability (PIPAS<\/a>) at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF<\/a>), and is known as the Marginal Professor<\/a> on social media, became Alves’ friend and partner, leading to a series of events<\/a>. On the first week of December 2021 (with proper coronavirus safety measures), they hosted events related to rap and hip-hop culture, as well as the launch of Coelho’s book Journeys and Movements<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Um post compartilhado por M\u00f4nica Coelho (@professora_marginal)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n