Bomba

Bomba is an Afro-Puerto Rican music and dance tradition centred on barrel drums (barriles), in which the lead dancer improvises movements that the primo drummer must answer in real time. Originating among enslaved Africans on the sugar plantations of coastal Puerto Rico — Loíza, Mayagüez, Ponce and Santurce — it comprises a family of rhythms including sicá, yubá, cuembé and holandés. The Cepeda family preserved its traditional form, while *Rafael Cortijo* and *Ismael Rivera* orchestrated bomba for the dance band in the 1950s, laying foundations for salsa.