Bomba was the traditional dance and music of Puerto Rico’s African slaves. Co-sponsored by Spanish Club and the Student Programming Board, AfriCaribe carried this tradition to NEIU on Feb. 22.
AfriCaribe gave a Bomba performance and lecture in the NEIU Auditorium. After a late start, the artistic director (and founder) of AfriCaribe, Evaristo “Tito” Rodriguez, began with a lecture on the historical, cultural, and technical aspects of Bomba. The performance began with the customary drum call.
In his description of Bomba, Rodriguez explained, “Bomba is music, song, dance, and drumming that evolved in the sugarcane plantations in Puerto Rico ? There are many rhythms of Bomba; these are defined by the traditions kept in families, towns, and regional areas. The essence of Bomba captures the body movements of the dancer and translates them into sound through the lead drum.”
The artists of AfriCaribe demonstrated this description the communication between the dancer and the lead drum (primo) is a rhythmic translation of the movement.
On March 22, 1873 (Puerto Rican Emancipation) freed slaves were celebrating together. During their celebratory Bombaso, they discovered that each plantation had created their own rhythms.
In trying to copy what they could hear traveling on the winds on Sunday afternoons, each ended up with their own unique rhythms. They have been sorted out and categorized now, but those five rhythms have hundreds of variations.
AfriCaribe performs all over the Midwest and has performances in Minnesota and Indiana in the next two weeks. Every month on the last Saturday, there is a bombaso held by AfriCaribe in the Cultural Center at 2547 W. Division in Chicago at 8 pm.