Browse Items (694 total)

  • Collection: Cultural Exchange

Part of the service learning experience at Plenitud PR is hands-on group farming. Done in community with residents of Plenitud and local volunteers from Las Marías, interns and students, a large group working together can get a few large tasks done…

Don Luis Soto of Finca Mi Casa explaining how he prepares his organic compost mixture with worm castings, ground eggshells, ground stone, peat moss and coco fiber.

Along the road from Loíza into Río Grande, as in all across the country, the scenery was dotted with blue tarp roofs, temporary replacements for roofs that blew off or were damaged in Hurricanes Irma and María in the fall of 2017.

More blue tarp roofs strewn throughout the mountainsides.

Like many across the island, the roof of the home of the Ayalas in Loíza was ripped off during the storm. On our visit in January, there was still a blue tarp serving as a temporary roof as plans were continuing to be discussed and decided for the…

Four months after the storm, thousands of blue roofs were seen in all parts of the island. It was the first sight we saw when descending into Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, and it was a common sight for the Raíces crew to come across…

Businesses and storefronts remained shuttered in the aftermath and recovery period following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Traditional wooden home found in the mountains of Puerto Rico. This house was the birthplace the grandfather of Raíces Cultural Center BOD chair Angela Lugo. The home was relatively undamaged by Hurricane María.

Sculpture of a woman and man dancing bombs in front of a painting of a wooden bohío in artist Samuel Lind’s home art studio.

These bomba dancer cutouts were some of the cultural materials and artifacts saved and recovered after Hurricane María. Cultural roots and artistic expression were all strengthened on the island of Puerto Rico after Hurricane María. Drums, guitars,…

Young dancer conversing with the drum at the 5th Encuentro de Tambores in Juncos, Puerto Rico.

Nellisa Andrades dancing bomba at the Ayala family home in Loíza Aldea on the day of Santiago apostol.

Unknown Santero (a person who practices the Yorùbá belief system of Ocha) Ocha is a belief system from Nigeria in West Africa. Its practitioners believe in the forces of nature like the ocean, rivers, lightning and thunder, wind, vegetation and…

Bomba dancer moving to the sound of the barriles de bomba. When in the circle, before the lead drum, the dancer has the creative power of expression, calling on the drummer to respond to their movements with sound.

Don Miguel Flores Lopez and Melanie Maldonado dancing an old style of bomba dance from Guayama at the 5th Encuentro de Tambores. A video of this dance can be seen at this link: https://youtu.be/zqGMpXmDDsI?t=363

Partner dance before the drums featuring Don Miguel Flores Lopez, bomba dancer for over 75 years, and Melanie Maldonado, dancer, singer and researcher. This was a demonstration of an older style of bomba dance from Guayama and was a dance…

Bomba dancer, Nelissa Andrades, during a bombazo on the beach in San Juan.

Bomba dancer executing picoteos, or piquetes, before the primo, or lead drum. The drum responds to each of these movements with sound. This exchange between dancer and drummer is one of the defining characteristics of bomba.

Dancing before the drums at the backyard bombazo in Carolina, Puerto Rico on the first night of the 5th Bomba Research Conference.

Don Miguel Flores Lopez from Guayama, Puerto Rico dancing the old style Guayama bomba dance. Having danced bomba since 15 years of age, and being 90 at the time of this photograph, he was one of the last dancers of the old style in Guayama.

Bomba drummer at the 5th Encuentro de Tambores in Juncos, Puerto Rico.

Citizens of Loíza Aldea playing the barriles (bomba drums) on the day of Santiago apostol.

Jesus Cepeda playing the “primo” lead drum of the bomba ensemble at the Ayala family home in Loíza Aldea on the day of Santiago apostol.

Raúl Ayala, Jesus Cepeda and unknown drummer playing the barrilles (bomba drums) in Loíza Aldea, Puerto Rico on the day of Santiago apostol.

Drummers playing the barriles de bomba at the 5th Encuentro de Tambores in Juncos, Puerto Rico.
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