In music class we sing “Rule Sonda,” a bomba song that inspires us to dance, and receive a very basic, yet we hope inspiring, introduction to this essential Afro-Caribbean artform. The dance begins when one student, either chosen or who volunteers to be the dancer, gets up and starts to move. Outfitted with percussion instruments galore, the rest of the students are drummers who follow the dancer by increasing or decreasing tempo volume as dancer becomes more or less enthusiastic. For your young kids’ first foray into bomba don’t worry too much about mastery — empower dancers to dance, drummers to follow and everyone to have fun.
Tag Archives | Bomba
Puerto Rican Bomba is a joy to drum and dance
Puerto Rican bomba is an African-inspired folk music style that is deeply intertwined with dance.
The Bomba percussion ensemble consists mainly of maracas, palitos (clave-like sticks struck together), a cua (a bamboo tube struck with wooden sticks), and hand drums known as “bariles,” because they were traditionally made from the wood of barrels. There are low-pitched hand drums like the “buleador” (the “segundo”), which lays the foundation of the beat, and the high-pitched “subidor” (the “primo”) which improvises.
Rule, Rule, Rule Sonda
Dance along with Hermanos Ayala as you meet bomba….
“Rule Sonda,” is a Puerto Rican bomba — music in which drumming and dancing are very closely connected, and in which the dancers generally usually lead the drummers rather than the other way around. Puerto Rican communities with strong ties to Africa developed bomba, with its energizing drumming and dancing, in the 17th and 18th centuries, giving enslaved Africans a medium to express both their struggles and triumphs through song. In this video Hermanos Ayala will make sure you dance.
Balancing a Bottle on your Bomba
In Ecuador when you dance to bomba a form of Afro-Ecuadorian music from the Chota Valley you’ll probably do so while balancing a wine bottle on your head, like in this video (look at 1:40). When you and your two year-olds dance to bomba in music class you’ll more likely balance a “whine” bottle. Heh. Heh heh.
