She is one of the most important composers of the folk musical style of the region of Mato Grosso do Sul.
[1] Born in Bataguassu, at the time the district of Nova Andradina, Helena Pereira Meirelles grew up surrounded by entourages and guitar players.
She ended up teaching herself in secret, and she faced strong prejudice because the viola was not appropriate for a woman to play.
She married at 17 years old at the imposition of her parents, abandoning her husband shortly after to join a Paraguayan who played violin and guitar.
After disappearing for more than 30 years, she was found very ill by a sister, who took her to São Paulo, where she was “discovered by the media” through a complementary reference in the North American magazine Guitar Player.