Source: Amanda Hardeman Griffis, State Folklorist, Florida Folklife Program
The Florida Folklife Program celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by presenting Puerto Rican bomba ensemble Taller Balancé Bomba Afro-Boricua in a free workshop, lecture and performance in Tallahassee on September 18 and 19, 2019.
As part of the 2019 Folk Artist-in-Residence Program, the Florida Folklife Program, and Florida State University Center for Music of the Americas will present Taller Balancé Bomba Afro-Boricua in a workshop and lecture at FSU Westcott Building in room 060 (located on the backside of Ruby Diamond Concert Hall on the corner of University Way and Convocation Way) from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 18, 2019. The residency, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and designed to bring folk and traditional arts to broader audiences, will culminate in a free public performance at Mission San Luis on Thursday, September 19, 2019 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Taller Balancé Bomba Afro-Boricua was founded by Angel Reyes Romero, considered one of the most exceptional masters of bomba music and dance. Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and raised in New York, Reyes started his music career at an early age on drum set and Latin percussions. Reyes apprenticed with Puerto Rican bomba patriarch Don Rafael Cepeda, where he trained meticulously on the barriles, or bomba barrel drums, and dance techniques. He performed and toured as a principle member of La Familia Cepeda, Los Hermanos Ayala and Paracumbé, the three most important groups representing the regional styles of bomba.
In 1981, Reyes founded Agueybaná, developing community and after school arts programs for youth. In Chicago in 2008, Reyes was recognized by the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center for his dedication and contribution tobomba. In 2015, Reyes established Taller Balancé Bomba Afro-Boricua in Florida, dedicated to sharing bomba drum, dance and drum-making with new generations and uniting diverse cultures through music.
Bomba is a traditional dance and musical style of Puerto Rico characterized by an improvised dialogue between an individual dancer and the primary drummer. Consistent with the three main cultural influences that make up Puerto Rican identity, bomba emerged from West African, Taíno and Spanish cultural roots. The central components include percussion, song and dance. These combined cultural expressions were performed in plantation communities across the island. Born out of the sugarcane plantation history of Puerto Rico, bomba developed among field laborers and enslaved people of African and indigenous origins. Although, initially more rhythms were used, the primary four that have been preserved include sicá, cüembé, yubá and holandés.
For more information, visit www.flheritage.com/folklife or contact the Florida Folklife Program at (850) 245-6315.
