Daughter of Achilles Emílio Zaluar and of Biancolina Pinheiro Zaluar, Alba was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she studied to complete the degree in Social Sciences at the Faculdade National of Filosofia (FNFi). During this period, she became part of the Centre of Popular Culture of the National Union of the Students. Following the Coup d'état in Brazil of 1964, the opening of an investigation of the Military Police started a period of political persecution of the students of the FNFi. Zaluar was forced in 1965 to flee her country and to stay abroad until 1971. She stayed most of this time in England, where she studied Anthropology and urban sociology. After returning to Brazil, she focused her research on the popular culture, especially to the samba and the carnival of Rio de Janeiro.