Bay Area Bomba y Plena Workshop
About
Sundays, 11:30am – 1:00pm Cost: Drop-in $35 Adults, all levels This class includes basic skills, improvisation techniques, choreography, and developing skills to dance in a Batey or community jam. Teenagers with some dance experience welcomed (please email for info). Folks interested in practicing Bomba percussion during the class are welcome (some experience in playing Bomba is recommended). This class includes basic skills, improvisation techniques, choreography, and developing skills to dance in a Batey or community jam. Teenagers with some dance experience welcomed (please email for info). ABOUT BOMBA: 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. It 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. IMPORTANT: For questions, please contact Shefali Shah at: bombaaguacero@gmail.com or 510-681-1036.
