A samba phenomenon from the '90s, seasoned in the Carioca suburbs, Dorina had contact very early with the samba culture. Introduced by Paulinho da Viola, her first album, Eu Canto Samba (1996), was awarded with the Sharp Prize in the Samba Revelation category. Her show Eu Canto Samba was presented for an entire year throughout Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Recife. In 1997, in her show De Paulo a Paulinho, she presented her idea about the history of the Portela Samba School through sambas by Paulo da Portela, Monarco, and Paulinho da Viola. In the same year, Zeca Pagodinho, promoting his Samba Pras Moças, invited her for a season at the João Caetano theater (Rio). In 1998, she performed again with Pagodinho, at the Novo Canto project at the Terraço Rio Sul. With Dona Ivone Lara, she did a show at the Municipal Theater of Niterói (Rio de Janeiro) that earned favorable reviews. She also did shows with the Velha Guarda da Portela and the Velha Guarda da Mangueira. In 1999, she paid tribute to Paulo César Pinheiro with the show Carta de Poeta. With João de Aquino, she realized a series of shows that also got good reviews. After releasing her second album, Samba.com (2000), in which she recorded Monarco, Wilson Moreira, and Paulinho da Viola, Dorina performed with Dona Ivone Lara in the Clássicos de Samba project at the Municipal Theater of Niterói. In the same year, she recorded, in a duo with Walter Alfaiate, Falso Amor Sincero (Nelson Sargento), on Casa de Samba 4. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi