Video Text: When talking about Puerto Rican dance, there's no better start than the bomba. The different styles vary based on the parts of the island that they come from. The "sicá" is the most popular form that comes from Santurce, while the “guembé” originated in the south of the nation. Each representation reveals more of the creativity of the Puerto Rican people.
The instruments that are used for the bomba music are in the percussion family. They are called barrels; they are barrels of wood. The drums with the high pitches are called subidores or primos and the ones for the lower pitch are called buleador and segundo. There is a device that keeps time for the drums. They are called cuas and they are two barrels of wood that are banged on a wooden surface.
Video Text: Known as "the patriarch of the 'bomba'", Rafael Cepeda was born in 1910 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. The bomba music and dance was passed down to him through tradition. With his wife and children, he formed the group "The Cepeda Family" which, for over 50 years, showed off his 600 original compositions, performing throughout the United States and Europe.
The women lift and shake their skirts while both them and the males improvise the rest of the dance. Additionally, the rhythms change. For example, one style from Santurce is called sicá, which is the most common. There's also the holandé, danced at a faster pace, from the same place. In Ponce, the belén is carried out, in which the rhythm is slower. Another style is the seis corridos from Loíza. This one, similar to the holandé, very fast and pronounced.