Maria Alice was one of the candidates to be independent queen of the Espiritu Santo Carnival in 2026 and went viral for wearing the device.
“Freedom, freedom, spread your wings over us.” Everyone who loves Carnival knows this samba by Emperatriz Leopoldinense from 1989, which spoke about the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic, but the verse took on another meaning with a video that spread on social media. A candidate for the title of Independent Queen of the 2026 Espirito Santo Carnival has gone viral for competing using an electronic ankle bracelet.
The woman calls herself “Maria Alice sem top” or “Maria Alice in the face of society”, as shown on her Instagram profile, and confirmed her identity in a post by journalist Hugo Gloss who shared the “capture”. Users quickly began theorizing about why she was with the device and whether it was actually real or a self-promotional tactic.
The samba dancer wrote: “This is me, people,” with the right to comment on the result of the competition. “I loved participating in the Espiritu Santo Carnival Royal Family Contest, unfortunately I didn’t win, but follow me as there is a lot of content here,” and in fact, your profile contains a lot of material.
A post on his Instagram account focuses specifically on the electronic ankle bracelet, despite it being “advertised” for a clothing brand, and is full of comments from netizens who found it funny, while others debate whether it’s really about the equipment or just “marketing”.
Another post shows Mariah Alice in a montage of supposedly “breaking things” at the police station and talking about the item. He said: “They made a montage with me in the video, and I am in the police station breaking things. I am very sad that you are thinking about me and that they are on the networks talking about me. Follow me, I even have an ankle bracelet, but I am trying to overcome myself, I am trying to follow my routine, and continue with my life.”
Users’ suspicions are that if she is indeed under surveillance by security authorities, then this is recent, as a post from three weeks ago shows her dancing without her electronic ankle bracelet. The reason remains a mystery.