BOMBAntillana

BOMBAntillana, founded by Eli Pabon, is a diverse group of people of varying ages and lived experiences learning together, building community and connecting to ourselves and to our ancestors through Bomba. Bomba is the oldest living musical tradition of Boriken, the island currently known as Puerto Rico, and reflects the powerful forces that shaped the island’s history, drawing from the West African (Bantu) and Taino (Indigenous) experience with enslavement enforced on the island by the Spanish Crown prior to the 1700’s. Bomba music and dance originated in sugar plantations when the enslaved were “allowed” one day of rest.

 

This art form was created, played, danced and sung as a means of creative expression, celebration, healing, resisting oppression and secretly planning escapes. As Bomba practitioners, BOMBAntillana members dive deep into learning the history of this art form and of the Caribbean, learn traditional call and response songs and create news ones, move our bodies to communicate and release what no longer serves us. Through song and dance, BOMBAntillana engages audience members of all ages to become active participants in its presentations.

 

Click the menu button above for more information on upcoming Bomba Sessions with BOMBAntillana and to Contact us!