Bomba is a Puerto Rican drum, song, and dance tradition of the African Diaspora, but today it is a communal expression of family, faith, community, and love for all Puerto Ricans. Bomba rhythms mixed with Cuban son into salsa.
In NYC, bomba is performed and taught by folkloric drum, song and dance groups such as Los Pleneros de la 21, BombaYo, Bombazo Dance Co, and Danza Fiesta.
It’s performed at Hostos Center, Bronx Heritage Music Center; and at New York’s summer festivals including: the 116th Street Festival, 152nd St Festival, AfriBembé Festival, Loisaida Festival, and National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
The bomba drum is the bomba barril which used to made from rum barrels. Life has changed, but back in the day the drum never stopped in New York City.
Bom-ba, ta-ba, bom-ba, ta-ba…
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Bomba NYC News
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Bomba Puertorriqueña
Bomba Puertorriqueña is Puerto Rico’s drum, song and dance tradition. Bomba is an African Diaspora tradition that has become a marker of Puerto Rican identity for all Puerto Ricans. There are similar traditions across the African Diaspora (rumba, cumbia, tambor, festejo), but Puerto Rico has its own flavors. The iconic bomba image is a dancer raising her Puerto Rican pollera.
“Bomba” means pump. It doesn’t mean bomb. We pump the barril drum, which used to be made from old rum barrels.
Bomba is a game between the dancer and lead drummer. The drummer follows the dancer’s piques (moves) with the drum. Basically, the dancer plays the lead drummer.
It used to be a flirting game, but today both men and women drum and dance. In Puerto Rico, Ama Rios was the first “prima” or lead bomba drummer. You have no idea how radical that was in what is mostly a machista culture.
Many Puerto Ricans know bomba songs the way Americans know nursery rhymes.
In Cuba, Rumba Columbia is similar, but is mostly danced by men.
[Editor Loko Kiko Keith: I survived the pandemic in the bomba crew of Héctor “Coco” Barez, the former Calle 13 percussionist whose Latin alternative bomba fusion project is El Laberinto del Coco. My drum crew kept me sane during isolation, and I feel most Puerto Rican with a bomba barril in my hands. The drum changed my life.]
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