In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th-October 15th), we are focusing on a cornerstone of bomba, the drum. The Yale Latino Networking Group, New Haven Museum, and Peabody Museum are providing barriles de bomba kits and a video tutorial to the first 200 registrants. To register for your free kit (1 per person), go to: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQizrgTVDvBlNeWT4-Lvs9JJ7WtguF….
Once you have created your drum, save the date to join us for a live virtual performance with our friends at Movimiento Cultural CT (MCAC), on Saturday, October 2nd, as they play the traditional drums of bomba called barriles.
According to MCAC, Bomba music and dance can be traced back to 16th century West Africa, brought to the Caribbean by enslaved people. Bomba developed as a form of communication and cultural resistance. Following the 1873 abolishment of slavery in Puerto Rico, bomba remained central to Afro-Puerto Rican communities. As MCAC writes, bomba and its drums continue to act as instruments of social and artistic expression.