Children’s Bomba Drumming and Dancing

Mondays, 4:00pm – 5:00pm PST | January 22 – May 20, 2024
In person at La Peña Cultural Center. Full trimester: $320 per child (16 classes). Drop-in: $25 per class.

This workshop offers a fun, safe, creative and dynamic environment for children and youth to learn centuries-old music and dance traditions from Puerto Rico. Through drumming, singing, dancing, and storytelling students learn about Bomba, and Plena, and explore their connections to other Latin and Caribbean music and dance forms. Activities are designed to develop musicianship, body coordination, expressiveness, bilingual literacy skills, and historical and cultural knowledge. Students are also invited to participate in Bombazos, community jams, performances and class recitals where they share what they have learned with friends, family, and the community at large. Drums, hand percussion instruments and dance skirts are provided by the teachers.

Bomba reflects the powerful forces that shaped Puerto Rico’s history, emerging from the African experience on the island before the 1700’s. Bomba music and dance originated in the sugar cane plantations and was played, danced and sung as a means to express daily hardships, cope with oppression, and escape captivity. Bomba is the oldest living musical tradition of Puerto Rico. The Bomba ensemble consists of “barriles” or barrel drums with goat skins, a “maraca” played by the lead singer, and a pair of “cuas”, or sticks traditionally played on the wooden body of the drum. Inspired and guided by songs and the drum rhythms, dancers improvise their movements in a dynamic communication with the “primo” or lead drum.

This class is open to all levels and drop-ins are welcome. Instruction is geared to different levels and skills from beginner to more advanced.

To register, contact bombaaguacero@gmail.com. Please register with your child’s name, age, and whether they will be dropping in or joining for the full trimester.