By Owen Lentner
Many BHS students were quite surprised when they were called down for an assembly yesterday morning. Little did they know that the morning classes were going to be spiced up with an assembly wrapping up Hispanic Heritage Month.
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually, in the US, from September 15 to October 15. President Lyndon B. Johnson created the observance in 1968. The original observance only lasted a week in September. Then in 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to a full month. The purpose of the month is to celebrate the culture and history of Hispanic countries.
The performance of Bomba usually entails a dancer performing a series of gestures as the main drummer, called the primo, provides a beat. The drummer follows the dancers moves – emphasizing when a different guesture occurs, usually responding with a loud or series of rapid slaps on the drum. This style of music sometimes includes a singer, like there was at BHS during Tuesday’s show.
The instruments used in the show are usually bomba barrels, maracas, and cuas. A cuas is the outside wooden part of the drum with no goat skinned top; they are played on thier side with drumsticks.
BHS students had the opportunity to dance to the Bomba music. Many students volunteered to dance, making the performance quite enjoyable. The music was developed by enslaved Africans, usually on sugar plantations in the Caribbean, in the 17th Century. The music was mostly used to celebrate baptisms and weddings during that time period.
The performance was well received by the students with some teachers even volunteering to dance to the music.
