Bomba
An Afro-Puerto Rican dialogue of drum and dance between dancer and drummer.
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Overview
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Etymology and naming
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Origins
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Musical anatomy
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Technique
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Variants
Holandes: A Puerto Rican Dance Variant of Bomba
A late-19th-century bomba variant from Loíza and Mayagüez, named for Puerto Rico's Dutch colonial past
3 min read
Sica (Bomba Variant)
A thinly documented rhythmic pattern within Puerto Rican bomba.
2 min read
The Rhythms of Bomba: Sicá, Yubá, and Holandés
More than sixteen styles, built on three core rhythms
2 min read
Yuba
A core rhythm-and-dance family of Puerto Rican bomba
4 min read
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Pioneers
Familia Ayala
A bomba ensemble formed for television in 1959
2 min read
Familia Cepeda
A Puerto Rican bomba and plena ensemble preserved in the documentary record of diaspora performance
3 min read
Los Hermanos Ayala: Keepers of Loíza's Bomba
Founded by Castor Ayala in 1959, the Loíza family that carried Afro-Puerto Rican bomba — and its coconut-husk vejigante masks — to the world
4 min read
Modesto Cepeda: Teaching Bomba and Plena to a New Generation
Son of the patriarch Rafael Cepeda, he opened one of the island's first bomba-and-plena schools
2 min read
Rafael Cepeda: Patriarch of Bomba and Plena
The Cepeda family elder who safeguarded Afro-Puerto Rican music for generations
4 min read
Rafael Cepeda and the Cepeda Family
3 min read
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Cultural context
Bomba as Afro-Puerto Rican Resistance and Identity
Enslavement, Cultural Survival, and the Politics of African-Derived Expression in Puerto Rico
5 min read
Bombazos and the Modern Revival
2 min read
Loíza and the Bomba Tradition
Plantation origins, Afro–Puerto Rican community, and the modern revival of Puerto Rico's oldest musical practice
4 min read
Loíza and the Bomba: Puerto Rico's African Heart
The town with the island's deepest African roots, and a cradle of bomba
4 min read
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Performers
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Influence
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Common misconceptions
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Glossary
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