Raíces
Cultural
Center

Community Resource Library: Bomba 

This is a collection of resources shared by and exchanged amongst the members of Raíces Cultural Center’s Community Arts Program. Have a resource to add to the library? Email it to raices [at] raicesculturalcenter.org

Watch

La Bomba: A Puerto Rican Tool of Resistance Through Creative Expression

A video documentary exploring “la bomba” as a tool of resistance through creative expression among Puerto Ricans. Created and produced by Ángela M. Capeles

Why Puerto Rican Bomba Music Is Resistance

Bomba is an ancient genre of resistance from Puerto Rico created by enslaved people on the island over 400 years ago. Recently, bomba music has been a staple of Black Lives Matter protests calling back to its roots as a music of resilience.

Puerto Rican Culture through Music - Phonic Earth Documentary

Phonic Earth explores Puerto Rican culture through the music of Bomba, Plena and Jibara.

Bomba en Loiza, Puerto Rico

Footage from the early 80’s of bomba in Loiza.

Learn How to Dance Bomba with Afro-Puerto Rican Dancer Mar Cruz

From the paseo to the marullo, learn a few basic steps of bomba with Afro-Puerto Rican dancer Mar Cruz in Loíza, Puerto Rico. Mar and her sister María represent a new movement of Afro Latinos who are reclaiming their cultural traditions to celebrate Black pride and acknowledge the island’s complex history of racism.

Puerto Rico's Bomba, A Dance of The African Diaspora

Witness the unstoppable joy of dancing bomba, Puerto Rico’s Afro-Puerto Rican dance of resistance. Meet sisters Mar and María Cruz who are dedicated to the dance and its legacy of survival, and trace some of the communities where bomba is at its most vibrant, from the Santurce area of San Juan, to Loíza, the bastion of Afro-Puerto Rican culture across the Rio Grande.

How to Dance Bomba Puertorriqueña Rhythm YUBÁ with Milteri Tucker Concepcion

Phonic Earth explores Puerto Rican culture through the music of Bomba, Plena and Jibara.

Bomba Puertorriqueña: Bomba Sicá rhythm

Bombazo Dance Co Education – Practice Loop for dance and drum.

Bomba puertorriqueña con Sheila Osorio

Sheila Osorio, maestra de bomba del taller N’ZAMBI en Loíza, presenta las distintas modalidades la cultura de la bomba en nuestra isla.

Bombazo del Batey 2020: Lockdown Edition

A Raíces Folkloric Ensemble Production – This pandemic project is our own artistic contribution to our community’s  new “digital batey”, created to reflect the spirit of resistance and protest that is so crucial to these folkloric forms, both in Puerto Rico, and here in the diaspora.

Get Involved

If you are interested in comprehensive, community study of the cultural arts, including dance, drum, song, and history of the traditional and folkloric arts of the Caribbean and beyond, please contact us or you can sign up for our current cycle of Bomba classes in Highland Park, NJ!