Talented and controversial, she broke the status quo and faced the reigning "machismo" with fearless audacity during the Brazilian military dictatorship and the revolutionary 1960s, where she lived with determination and courage.

As a student, she organized events with her sister Rosina Pagã and members of Bando da Lua to establish connections with the artistic community in Rio.

They also sang as a duo on Rádio Mayrink Veiga,[1] recording thirteen albums with composers such as Lamartine Babo, Ary Barroso, Braguinha, and Assis Valente.

They made three more films together, O Bobo do Rei (1936), Tres anclados en París (1938), and Favela (1939), before splitting up due to Elvira's 1940 marriage to Theodoro Eduardo Duvivier Filho,[1] nullified in 1951.

[6][7] In the late 1950s, after numerous arrests, stalkings, and attacks both physically and from the media, she decided to retire and write a few books, including "Revelações" and "Vida e Morte".