Learn All About Bomba on Alma’s Way

Alma Rivera is a 6-year-old girl proudly residing in the Bronx. Her family is part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Her mother, Lulú, was born and raised in New York City, and her father was born and raised in Loíza, Puerto Rico. Through the varied experiences of Alma’s relatives, friends, and neighbors, the stories from Alma’s Way offer insights into some of the many different ways families can retain cultural traditions from their source of origin. Additionally, those experiences are building a shared world that is vibrant and meaningfully reflective of the diversity that makes up Alma’s Bronx neighborhood.

Puerto Rican Bomba is a musical genre that helps people connect to who they are as individuals, their families,
and their communities. When Bomba is danced, sung, or performed, it helps participants express their feelings,
ideas, and beliefs.

The first historical record of Bomba in Puerto Rico dates back to the year 1797. The musical genre is a legacy of Puerto Rico’s West African heritage—an important part of Puerto Rican cultural identity. Bomba arrived in Puerto Rico through the souls, bodies, and memories of millions of West Africans who had been enslaved during colonization, and were taken to sugar cane plantations to work. Bomba developed as a means of expression and was often used to communicate plans for rebellion and escape and also to celebrate baptisms and marriages. These dances were only permitted on Sundays and during holidays. Bomba spread across the island and developed with special relevance in San Juan, Ponce, Mayagüez, Loíza, and Guayama.

Bomba continues to be practiced and celebrated in Puerto Rico today. In October of 1973, the community of Monte Grande in Piñones, Loíza, hosted the inaugural Festival de Bomba y Plena with the goal of preserving musical genres and traditions. This festival promoted the increase of musical groups and has expanded the contemporary reach of Bomba and Plena, another traditional genre of music in Puerto Rico, all throughout
the island. On August 17, 2002, a law was passed declaring the last Saturday of March in Puerto Rico “National Bomba Day” to uplift Bomba’s legacy and cultural value.

Watch the following videos and download the full Alma's Way: Bomba Viewing Guide for Families to learn more about the music, instruments, dance, song, and clothing of Bomba.

When watching “Alma Goes to Puerto Rico,” children might relate to the themes of visiting relatives and intergenerational connection within families. In the beginning of the movie, we see Alma preparing for her trip and making plans for some of the things that she hopes to do while she is in Puerto Rico to celebrate her great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. She names Bomba as one of the things that she is most excited to experience on the island. After watching Alma experience some of the elements of Bomba in Puerto Rico in the movie, as well as the video of Eva Nicole demonstrating some of the components of what she and her classmates have been taught, children may be eager to talk about some of the differences and similarities in what they are seeing.

Here are some questions to help guide the conversation:

• What are the parts of Bomba that are shown in the movie? Which one is Alma most excited about?
• What did you think about Alma's skirt? Why do you think Bisabuela Alma gave her the skirt?
• What are the parts of Bomba that we learn from Eva Nicole and her classmates?
• Why do you think Eva Nicole calls her dancing Bomba “my way”?
• There are many different rhythms within Bomba. What are some differences that you notice between
  the rhythms in the movie and in Eva Nicole’s class? What about instruments?
• When Alma and her family arrive in Loíza, they call it the “capital of tradition.” How does tradition relate to Bomba? Are there any traditions that you notice Alma and her family practicing in the episode?

Are there any traditions within our family that you are excited to learn about after watching the movie? Are there any traditions within our community that you want to learn about?