Events for Youth & Families: Bombazo
A celebration for the bilingual children’s album Que vengan los niños. The family program will share and celebrate Afro Puerto Rican culture through singing, dancing, and drumming. The program will begin with an exploration of the bilingual picture book, When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba by Dr. Raquel Ortiz. Then participants will learn basic bomba rhythms, song and dance moves. The program will end with participants listening to, singing, and dancing to songs from Que vengan los niños.
Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz, an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, is a social anthropologist, educator, storyteller, playwright, performer, poet, composer, editor, illustrator, author of children's books and songs. Recently awarded a 2022 Cleveland Foundation Artist Fellow, her newest project, an Afro-Puerto Rican bomba album for children, entitled Que vengan los niños, includes songs that are sung in Spanish, English, and also bilingual. The album, created in collaboration with William Cepeda, a four-time Grammy-nominated Latin Jazz legend, composer, and educator, contains 12 songs ranging in topics from the beauty of the island of Puerto Rico to animals, bomba music, and Boricua pride in the USA, and incorporate traditional Latin American children’s songs. Four songs are inspired by Dr. Ortiz’s children’s picture books and theater productions.
Children will receive a copy of When Julia Danced Bomba and educational materials.
We are very excited to have you back at our in-person events at BPL. Please be considerate of your fellow guests and stay home if you’re feeling unwell. Also, consider wearing a mask when attending indoor BPL Presents events. You’ll be doing your part to help keep yourself and everyone healthy and safe.
Events for Youth & Families programs are made possible through generous support from the Estate of Pearl S. Reuillard in memory of her parents Yetta and Louis Schwartz.
