Boston Bomba and Plena: Exploring the African Diaspora Through Caribbean Dance and Music - Sunday November 23, 2014

Please read the flyer for event information.

New York Bomba and Plena: Raiz de Bomba and Plena - Thursday November 6, 2014

Join us on November 6 for a special event where artist and performer Jorge Arce will lead a discussion and demonstration about the origins of Puerto Rican bomba and plena. The presentation includes a historical overview of the music’s tradition, instrumentation and current performance practices in the United States. Professor Antonio Nadal, deputy director of the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College (CUNY) will be the discussant at this event. He specializes in teaching Latin American and Caribbean literature, pedagogy, bilingualism, in addition to the music and folklore of Puerto Rico. Nadal noted the importance of learning about these musical traditions as they “are part of the Afro-Puerto Rican artistic heritage that is often dismissed, or even ignored, by those who wish to emphasize only our European roots.”

The presentation will start with an informative introduction to the origin of bomba and plena within the historical context of the Caribbean. It will be followed by an interactive demonstration of the various rhythmical patterns within those styles manifested through its instrumentation, singing and dance. “This event is designed with the community in mind, all are invited and all are welcome. This will be a multi-generational and interactive presentation where both academics and people from the community can learn and enjoy,” said Arce.

Since 1983, it has been Arce's mission to promote the bomba and plena musical traditions in Massachusetts and beyond. Over the last 30 years he has conducted workshops, classes, residency programs and performances at schools, festivals, community organizations and universities. Arce is also a cultural historian and researcher.

Jorge Arce's early exposure to the bomba and plena in Puerto Rico helped him establish a direct relationship in the early 1970s with the Cepeda Family who are well known keepers of African musical traditions in the island. In 1979, he wrote, performed, directed, and choreographed the musical theater piece ‘Melodía en el Caño’ in collaboration with the Cepeda’s . This piece was broadcasted as a TV special and later recorded on the album ‘Tierra, Tierra’ (Arto Max Records, 1980) by Haciendo Punto en Otro Son, a renowned musical group of which Jorge Arce has been a member since 1978. Arce toured the United States from 1975 to 1982 as an actor and musician. His musical group Humano, founded in 1987, was awarded the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Latin Act in 1990. His cultural workshops and performances were programmed at more than 1000 schools, universities and educational centers.

To RSVP for this event contact centro.events@hunter.cuny.edu or call (212) 772-5714. For updated information about Centro’s events please visit our website and follow us on social media (@CentroPR; #centroevents).

Centro Events are free of charge and live-streamed from our website.

Event: Raiz de Bomba y Plena

Bomba and Pena artist: Jorge Arce

Date and Time: Thursday November 6, 2014 at 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Venue: and Location: Silberman School of Social Work, Auditorium
2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY (East 119th Street)

Admission: Not listed

Bronx Bomba and Plena: 8th Biennial BomPlenazo 2014 October 10-12 2014

For more information on the various venues, events and tickets go to http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts/events/FY13-14/October/bomplenazo/bomplenazo.shtml

Maryland Bomba and Plena: Bomba y Plena Dance Party - Friday May 23, 2014

Come join Cultura Plenera for an evening of fun with Puerto Rico's oldest and most dynamic music genres: Bomba and Plena. The festivities will start at 8pm with a dancing workshop. Plena has been played and danced in Puerto Rico for more than 100 years and Bomba for more than 400 years. The workshop will teach you the steps and protocols of dancing. At 9pm the party will start with musical performance so you can dance and sing along with Cultura Plenera. Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn about and enjoy Bomba and Plena!

$15 includes Dance Workshop and Performance

Delicious Food and Drink will be available for purchase

Event: Bomba y Plena Dance Party

Artists: Los Hijo 'e Plena

Date and Time: Friday May 23, 2014, 8pm Bomba lesson and 9pm Dance

Venue and Location: Creative Alliance at 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Admission: $15, $12 for members and students

For ticket information contact: Creative Alliance at (410) 276-1651 or creativealliance.org

Jersey City Bomba: Rites of Passage | Afro-Diaspora Dance Intensive Workshop - Saturday January 18, 2014

For the FIRST time in JERSEY CITY, LadyLore and Nena Soulfly present 

“Rites of Passage: An Afro-Diaspora Dance Intensive Workshop Series”. Take a journey across water with traditional West African and Afro-Caribbean Dance with 

Bomba and Plena Dance from Puerto Rico with Jersey City's own Dance teacher and Bembe Collective Director, Cynthia Renta www.facebook.com/cynthiarenta

Afro-Cuban Orisha Dance with Dance teacher/Choreographer for Global Rhythms Ashe, Yesenia Selier.
www.yeseniaoriselier.com/afrocuban

Special guest teacher, Traditional Nigerian Orisa Dance teacher /Choreographer, Tanya Agunbiosu Melendez from Los Angeles, CA.www.orisadance.wordpress.com

We are super excited to bring to you this wonderful workshop series of Afro-Diaspora dance thoughtfully curated to show connections across waters byway of Traditional Orisa dance from Yorubaland, Nigeria, Bomba and Plena dance from Puerto Rico and Orisha dance from Cuba. The focus of this workshop is to offer a healing and inspiring experience in guided movement reconnecting our bodies and its internal water back to the source of life and creativity. Our purpose is to promote body liberation through traditional dance forms from the African Diaspora.

This event will culminate with a live drum circle presented by Sirelo Entertainment with "Community Rhythm" beginning at 6pm.

All Levels are WELCOMED and ENCOURAGED!

Full Workshop | $25, 3 hours

RSVP! orisadance@gmail.com

Early Bird Discount!
$20
PayPal: orisadance@gmail.com | "Rites of Passage"

(Updated) Bomba and Plena Performances Across North America for Friday September 27th and Saturday September 28th, 2013

Chicago

Bomba Con Buya will celebrate it's 4 Year Anniversary Friday September 27th at 6:30PM (Central time) at Efebina's Cafe located at 1640 South Blue Island, Chicago, IL 60608.

Las BomPleneras at Lincoln Park 2pm Saturday September 28th, 2013.

Coming of Two Cultures from the Caribbean:  Garinagu and Boricua 2nd Annual Drum and Dance Celebration.

Featuring Bomba Con Buya and Laruni Hati Dance Group
Venue: Garifuna Flava Restaurant
Location: 2518 West 63rd Street, Chicago, IL 60629
Date: Saturday September 28, 2013
Time: 6pm
Donation: $10

Africaribe's Monthly Bombazo - Saturday September 28, 2013 8pm-10pm. See the information below.

New York

Bomba Yo will be performing at "Passages: A Collective Exhibition" located at the Andrew Freeman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10452. Stage time scheduled at 10AM Saturday September 28th, 2013.

Saturday September 2, 2013, The Bomba & Plena Community Workshops by Los Pleneros de la 21 will have an "Open House" from 11AM to 2PM at the Julia De Burgos Cultural Center located at 1680 Lexington Avenue and 106th Street (Spanish Harlem).

Saturday September 28, 2013, Bombazo Dance Co. Fundraiser at Copia NYC at 8PM until $10 donation and 1/2 price drinks. Copia NYC located at 305 East 53rd Street, NY, NY between 1st and 2nd Ave.

Tampa, Florida

September 28th, Nostaliga Amarilla at Catrinas Concina Y Galeria located at 2402 South MacDill Avenue, Tampa, FL.

Bay Area Bomba and Plena: Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop - Starting Wednesday September 18, 2013

Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop (Bomba and Plena will be covered along with other Puerto Rican percussion styles.)

La Peña Cultural Center on Wednesdays starting September 18, 2013. Level I, 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm; Level II, from 8:30 to 9:45 pm

*Location: La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA*
This 16-week workshop provides a foundation for percussion students and professionals interested in the musical traditions of Puerto Rico. Sessions will focus on the role of the percussion section in a variety of genres and subgenres of Puerto Rican music including Plena, Música Jíbara (mainly seis, aguinaldo, llanera and guaracha jíbara), and several major styles of Bomba (siká, kuembé, yubá, holandés and seis corrido). The last two weeks of the series explore how these song forms and their rhythmic vocabularies have been adapted to Salsa and Latin Jazz pieces/arrangements. The workshop seeks to develop and strengthen practical and conceptual skills in all of these genres and their stylistic variations. Participants will learn proper technique to play a variety of percussion instruments: panderos or panderetas de plena, the güícharo (Puerto Rican güiro used in plena and música jíbara), barriles or bombas (bomba drums), cuás, maraca de bomba, and the bongó as used in música jíbara. We will also consider examples of how congas, timbales and the drum set have been adapted to play these rhythms. This workshop also offers a general introduction to the history and socio-cultural context within which these musical traditions developed.

The workshop has two levels: 
Level I is for beginning percussion students; Level II is appropriate for students with a good foundation in Puerto Rican music and/or intermediate-to-advanced level skills in percussion. We will meet at La Peña Cultural Center on Wednesdays starting September 18, 2013. Level I, 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm;

 Level II, from 8:30 to 9:45 pm; BUT first session will be from 7 to 8:30 pm for all, after that we will divide the groups. The cost of the entire series is $240 ($15 per session) or $18 drop in. 

For more information or enrollment contact the instructor  Hector Lugo at hectorlugo65@gmail.com or 510-927-7984. 

The Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop is another project of The Bomba y Plena Workshop; check out our other classes (Adult Bomba, Youth Bomba y Plena Workshop, Puerto Rican Music Ensemble) and please, help us spread the word. Thanks!!

NY Bomba and Plena: Los Pleneros de la 21's Bomba & Plena Community Workshops Open House - Saturday September, 28, 2013

The LP21 Familia is proud and excited to get back to work, with the BOMBA & PLENA COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS...now celebrating 25 YEARS!!!! Catch a sneak peak of our exciting new curriculum, sample music, dancing and craft classes, meet and network with our talented intergenerational staff of instructors and masterful cultural arts practitioners, get a first hand opportunity to pre-register and secure your space in this unique program...ALL FOR FREE! The Annual BPCW FREE OPEN HOUSE AND REGISTRATION KICK OFF EVENT will welcome students, parents, adults and community members from all walk's of life on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH 2013 11:00 am Julia de Burgos Cultural Center (1680 Lexington Avenue) 212.427.5221 pleneros21@gmail.com The BPCW classes begin on October 19th 2013, but don't wait until then to register, get in on the know TODAY! The BPCW is part of LP21's Bomba & Plena for All - Educating Through the Arts initiatives and is made possible in part by support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Offices of NYC Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, District 8.

NJ Bomba and Plena workshops: Free Children's Bomba and Plena class with Cynthia Renta - Saturdays 2-4pm

Free Children's Bomba and Plena class with Cynthia Renta. Every Saturday 2-4pm in Elizabeth, NJ or children ages 6-18 years old.

To register your child, contact Cynthia Renta at cynthiarenta@hotmail.com by Wednesday September 25th. Check out our kids dancing and singing their hearts out.

Bay Area/Berkley Bomba: Que Bailen los Ninos!! - August 3, 2013

An evening of music and dance with performances by 
Rico Pabon with La Mixta Criolla
and youth groups: Quenepas and Huaranguito
also with DJ Sabor a Pueblo- Jose Ruiz KPFA/KPOO 
This event is a fundraiser for the children's Bomba y Plena Workshop going into its 6th year of operation. This event will help us keep class costs low for parents.
Advance tickets: $15
Door tickets: $20
Children $5 at the door
Children under 5 are free
Doors open at 6:30pm
Date: Saturday August 3, 2013
Ticket Sales:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/401867

https://www.facebook.com/events/114536668721517/?ref=22

Location: BrasArte, 1901 San Pablo Ave, Berkley, CA 94702