Category: Uncategorized

Have you seen Bomba Marilé sharing bomba before? Would you like the opportunity to learn more about bomba? Join us for free community bomba classes every Saturday in April, May, and June 2025 from 3-4pm at the Sorenson Unity Center 1383 S 900 W, SLC.

Bring comfortable shoes, a long skirt if you would like to dance with a skirt, and a water bottle. Classes will go over maraca, cua, dance, and the history of bomba.

You do not need to register and you can join us any Saturday you are able to come. All ages are welcome but children should be present with a guardian.

Thank you to the Sorenson Unity Center and the Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks for the support. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/3792927317638347/3792927324305013/

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¿Has visto a Bomba Marilé compartiendo bomba antes? Te gustaría tener la oportunidad de aprender más sobre bomba? Únete con nosotros para las clases comunitarias gratuitas de bomba todos los sábados de Abril, Mayo y Junio del 2025, de 3-4 p. m. en el Sorenson Unity Center 1383 S 900 W, SLC. Trae zapatos cómodos, una falda larga si quisieras bailar con falda, y una botella de agua. En las clases se hablará sobre maraca, cua, baile, y la historia de la bomba. No necesitas registrarte, tu puedes unirte a cualquier sábado que puedas venir. Todas las edades son bienvenidas, pero los niños deben estar presentes con un adulto. Gracias al Sorenson Unity Center y al Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks por el apoyo.

We are committed to ensuring that our event is accessible to all attendees. Our venue is fully wheelchair accessible, featuring:
Accessible Entrances: All main entrances are equipped automatic doors for easy access.
Restrooms: Accessible restrooms are available throughout the venue.
Seating: Designated wheelchair spaces are provided in the event area, with companion seating nearby.
Parking: Accessible parking spaces are available close to the venue entrance.
Assistance: Staff will be on hand to provide assistance as needed. Please feel free to reach out for help.
If you have specific accessibility needs or require additional accommodations, please contact us in advance, and we will do our best to assist you. We look forward to welcoming you to our event!

Bomba Marilé invites you to join us for a full day of honoring how we represent the natural element of water within Puerto Rican bomba music and dance. This will be the first in a 4 part series connecting each natural element to bomba. We will have the privilege of having renowned bomba practitioner Rafael Maya directly from Puerto Rico teaching us for this event. The entire day is free thanks to the financial support from Creative West, National Endowment for the Arts, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks, and the Sorenson Unity Center. 

Location: 
Sorenson Unity Center 
1383 S 900 W SLC

Saturday Jan, 18

10am-12pm Bomba Percussion Class by Rafa Maya 
2:30-4:30pm Bomba Dance Class by Rafa Maya 
5-7pm Live Bomba Music and Dance 
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Bomba Marilé los invita a unirse con nosotros este día estaremos honrando como el agua se representa en la música y el baile de bomba puertorriqueña. Esta será la primera de una serie de 4 partes que conectarán cada elemento natural con la bomba. Tendremos el privilegio de contar con el reconocido maestro de bomba Rafael Maya directamente de Puerto Rico, quien nos enseñará en este evento. Todo el día es gratuito, no pierdas la oportunidad de aprender y disfrutar. Gracias al apoyo financiero de Creative West, National Endowment for the Arts, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks, y el Sorenson Unity Center.

Ubicación:
Sorenson Unity Center
1383 S 900 W SLC

10 am-12 pm Clase de percusión de bomba con Rafa Maya
2:30-4:30 pm: Clase de baile de bomba con Rafa Maya
5-7 pm Música y baile de bomba en vivo

We are committed to ensuring that our event is accessible to all attendees. Our venue is fully wheelchair accessible, featuring:

Accessible Entrances: All main entrances are equipped automatic doors for easy access.
Restrooms: Accessible restrooms are available throughout the venue.
Seating: Designated wheelchair spaces are provided in the event area, with companion seating nearby.
Parking: Accessible parking spaces are available close to the venue entrance.
Assistance: Staff will be on hand to provide assistance as needed. Please feel free to reach out for help.
If you have specific accessibility needs or require additional accommodations, please contact us in advance, and we will do our best to assist you. We look forward to welcoming you to our event!

Saturday June 24th, 2023 from 5-8pm at the Jordan River Nature Center

Bomba Marilé invites you to sing, dance, and play bomba with us on Saturday June 24th, 2023 from 5-8pm at the Jordan River Nature Center. This is a free event and open to all. Please bring food and non-alcoholic drinks to share. We are excited to have visiting bombero Joe Goglia from Arizona at this event. Event will be held outdoors.

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Los invitamos a cantar, tocar, y bailar bomba con Bomba Marilé el Sabado 24 de Junio en el Jordan River Nature Center de 5-8pm. El evento es gratis y abierto a todos. Por favor traigan comida o bebidas sin alcohol para compartir. Estamos emocionados de tener bombero visitante Joe Goglia de Arizona viniendo a este evento. El evento será afuera.

Park City 2022

Hispanic Heritage Parade at the Gateway Center. Salt Lake City, UT.

At the Cache Valley Summerfest on June 18, 2021 in Logan.

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We had fun at the African Heritage Fest organized by N’goma Y Africa. Always a privilege to represent our culture!

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African Heritage Festival June 2021 in Orem

The Living Legacy video series showcases Salt Lake City’s diverse community through storytelling on how these various communities keep their traditions and legacies alive today. This week features Bomba Marilé.

The Living Legacy video series showcases Salt Lake City’s diverse community through storytelling on how these various communities keep their traditions and legacies alive today. This week features Bomba Marilé.

Bomba Marilé was established in November of 2017 with the purpose of sharing Afro Puerto Rican traditions of Bomba music and dance with the greater Utah community. Since their initiation, they have organized Bomba workshops with visiting instructors, social events including dominos and picnics, and educational activities such as showing documentaries discussing issues related to Puerto Rico.

Bomba Marilé has had the opportunity to perform at various cultural events throughout Utah including Living Traditions Festival, West Side Dance Cinco de Mayo Festival, Mondays at the Park, and the Utah County Fair. They are grateful for the opportunity to highlight their musical traditions from Puerto Rico and to share them with those who support the cultural arts.

Photo & video by TWIG Media Lab 

The video even included a clip of jamming with Taller Bula, Bomba Liberté, Taller Kurubina  and all the amazing bomberx in Cali, highlighting Jade Power Sotomayor while dancing. Shout out to the peeps in Southern Cali for creating such welcoming and beautiful community.

501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
Phone: 323-377-4304
Address: PO Box 1681 Sandy, UT 84091-1681

Bomba Marilé was established November 2017 with the purpose of sharing Afro Puerto Rican traditions of Bomba music and dance with the greater Utah community. Since our initiation, we have organized Bomba workshops with visiting instructors, social events including dominos and picnics, and educational activities including showing documentaries discussing issues related to Puerto Rico. Bomba Marilé has had the opportunity to perform at various cultural events throughout Utah including Living Traditions Festival, West Side Dance Cinco de Mayo Festival, Mondays at the Park, and Utah County Fair.  We are grateful for the opportunity to highlight our musical traditions from Puerto Rico and to share them with those who support the cultural arts. 

We are a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.

Executive Director:
Miriam Padilla Vargas
Board of Directors:
Isaias Alavéz Martínez
Rafael Maya
Nicole Wines
Manuel Carmona Galarza
Jeanitza Avilés

Awards/Grants:

• Salt Lake City Arts Council Project Support Grant 8/2019 
• Emmy Nominated interview on African Heritage in Latinos in Utah 8/2021
• Salt Lake City Arts Council Project Support Grant 1/2022 

Presentations Organized by Bomba Marilé/ Presentaciones Organizados por Bomba Marilé:

• 10/2018 First Bomba Marilé Batey de Bomba with Shefali Shah and Hector Lugo in SLC, UT 
• 5/2019 Bambula: Remembering the Kongo Connection to Puerto Rico with Mabiba Baegne SLC, UT
• 11/2019 Puerto Rico and Hawaii: Cousin Archipelagos SLC, UT 
• 7/2021 Bomba Cangrejera with Denis Solís and Julia Cepeda SLC, UT 
• 3/2022 Afrodescendant Genealogy in Puerto Rico with Melanie Maldonado Diaz SLC, UT 
• 7/2022 Connection of African Diasporic Music in the Americas with Rafael Maya SLC, UT 

Bombazos Organized by Bomba Marilé/Bombazos Organizados por Bomba Marilé:

• 9/2019 Bombazo at Cocina Caribeña
• 10/2019 Bombazo at Monsieur Crepes 
• 11/2019 Bombazo to Celebrate Miriam’s Birthday 
• 12/2019 Bombazo at Monsieur Crepes
• 2/2020 Bombazo at Monsieur Crepes
• 5/2022 Bombazo at the Jordan River Nature Center
• 6/2022 Bombazo at the University of Utah Black Cultural Center 
• 8/2022 Community Bombazo at the Jordan River Nature Center 
• 9/2022 Community Bomba o at the University of Utah Black Cultural Center 
• 10/2022-2/2023 Monthly community bombazos at the Sorenson Unity Center 

Presentations of Bomba by Bomba Marile, organized by others: 

• 5/2019 Cinco de Mayo Festival by WestSide Dance, SLC, UT 
• 5/2019 Living Traditions Festival , SLC, UT 
• 7/2019 Mondays at the Park SLC, UT 
• 8/2019 Utah County Fair in Spanish Fork, UT 
• 9/2019 Tooele Latin Festival in Tooele, UT 
• 9/2019 Westside Elementary School in Springville, UT 
• 9/2019 Logan Hispanic Heritage Festival in Logan, UT 
• 9/2019 Hispanic Heritage Parade and Festival in SLC, UT 
• 9/2019 Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Conference Sandy, UT 
• 10/2019 Ogden Hispanic Heritage Festival in Ogden, UT 
• 2/2020 eBay Black History Month Celebration Draper, UT 
• 2/2020 Guest artists with Cukiara at the East West Music and Dance Festival Tampa, FL 
• 6/2020 Utah Black Community Meetup SLC, UT
• 5/2021 Living Traditions Festival SLC, UT 
• 6/2021 African Heritage Festival Orem, UT
• 6/2021 Summerfest Arts Fair Logan, UT 
• 6/2021 Living Legacy SLC, UT 
• 8/2021 Gateway Discovery Children’s Museum SLC, UT 
• 8/2021 Craft Lake City DIY Festival SLC , UT 
• 9/2021 Aquarium Performance SLC, UT 
• 9/2021 Hispanic Heritage Festival Ogden, UT 
• 9/2021 Rise Virtual Academy West Jordan, UT 
• 10/2021 Weber State University Ogden, UT 
• 10/2021 Bluffdale Elementary School Bluffdale, UT 
• 12/2021 Sugar Space Arts Warehouse Marketplace SLC, UT 
• 1/2022 Butterflies in Kent 365 Poetry SLC, UT 
• 2/2022 Oshun Celebration Ogden, UT 
• 3/2022 Granite School District Middle School Bomba Workshop West Valley, UT 
• 3/2022 Butterflies in Kent 365 Poetry SLC, UT 
• 3/2022 Granite School District Teacher’s Development Bomba Workshop West Valley, UT 
• 5/2022 Living Traditions Festival SLC, UT 
• 5/2022 University of Utah School of Cultural and Social Transformation Graduation SLC, UT
• 5/2022 Woodrow Wilson Elementary School South Salt Lake, UT 
• 5/2022 Thumbtack Company Party Draper, UT 
• 5/2022 Parkside Elementary School Cultural Night Murray, UT
• 6/2022 Celebration of Cultures SLC, UT
• 6/2022 Sema Hadithi Soil Collection SLC, UT
• 6/2022 Ogden Arts Festival Ogden, UT
• 6/2022 Latino Arts Fest Park City, UT
• 7/2022 Utah Multicultural Festival SLC, UT
• 7/2022 African Festival SLC, UT 
• 7/2022 Planned Parenthood Block Party SLC, UT 
• 7/2022 Gateway Children’s Museum World Connection Festival 
• 8/2022 African Festival Orem, UT
• 8/2022 Ogden Pride Parade Ogden, UT 
• 8/2022 Craft Lake City SLC, UT
• 8/2022 Mondays at the Park SLC, UT 
• 8/2022 Fairbourne Station West Valley, UT
• 8/2022 Summer Arts Fair Ogden, UT 
• 9/2022 Hispanic Heritage Parade and Festival SLC, UT
• 9/2022 Draper International Festival Draper, UT 
• 9/2022 Afro Utah Festival SLC, UT 
• 10/2022 Phillips Exeter Academy Exeter, New Hampshire 

Bomba Workshops organized by Bomba Marile: 

• 2/2018: Private Workshop with Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah in Oakland, CA 
• 3/2018: Private workshop with Ivelisse Diaz, Chicago, IL 
• 5/2018:  Private Workshop with Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah in Oakland, CA 
• 10/2018: Private workshop with Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah in Draper, UT
• 10/2018: Private workshop with Denise Solis and Julia Cepeda in Oakland, CA 
• 1/2019: Private workshop with Ivelisse Diaz in Draper, UT 
• 5/2019 Private class with Alberto Pagan Ramirez from the Instituto Puertoriqueño de Musica in Philadelphia, PA
• 8/2019: Private team workshop with Julia Gutierrez and Mateo Gonzalez in Draper, UT 
• 10/2019 Private team workshop with Marien Torres in Draper, UT 
• 12/2019: Private Workshop with Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah from Bay Area Bomba y Plena Workshop Oakland, CA
• 8/2021 Bomba Workshop at University of Utah 
• 10/2021-11/2021 Weekly after school program at Dream Academy for elementary students 

Bomba Workshops we Attended: 

• 9/2018 Workshop with Julia Gutierrez organized by  Bay Area Bomba y Plena Workshop in Bay Area, CA 
• 4/2019 Workshop with Victor Vélez y Marien Torres, organized by Bomba con Buya, Chicago IL 
• 6/2019 Private class and Bombazo with Beto Torrens, organized by Grupo Bombazo en Tempe, UT 
• 8/2019 Group Class and Bombazo with Jade Power Sotomayor (Bomba Liberte) and Hector Luis Rivera Ortiz (Taller Bula)
• 8/2021 La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón in Chicago, IL 
• 4/2022 Kokobale in San Diego, CA 
• 8/2022 Paseo con la Escuelita Puerto Rico 
• 9/2022 Taller Kenuati Chicago, IL 

Bomba Conferences and Festivals: 

• 8/2019 Bomba Research Conference by PROPA in PR 
• 11/2019 Festival de Bomba y Plena en Tampa 
• 9/2021 Bomba Research Conference in Puerto Rico 
• 9/2021 Bomba Research Conference in Puerto Rico 
• 3/2022 Encuentro de Tambores San Juan, PR 

Interviews:

• 10/2018: KRCL Interview on upcoming Batey de Bomba 
• 5/2019: KRCL interview on Bambula: Remembering the Kongo connection to Puerto Rico 
• 9/2019: Caribbean Nightingale Blog on What Bomba Means to Us 
• 1/2020: KRCL on Puerto Rico earthquake relief efforts 
• 2/2021 Telemundo Utah on Afro-Latinidad 
• 2/2021 Living Legacy Video by SLC Arts Council 
• 2/2021 Interview for documentary “Life through Dance” 
• 3/2021 Living Legacy Video 
• 5/2022 ABC4 News about Living Traditions 
• 7/2022 Slug Magazine about Craft Lake City
• 8/2022 KSL about our Community Bombazos
• 9/2022 ABC4 News about Hurricane Irma effects on Puerto Rico 
• 9/2022 ABC4 News about Afro Utah Festival 
• 9/2022 KSL about Hurricane Irma effects on  PR 
• 9/2022 Fox Channel 13 News about Hurricane Irma effects on PR 
• 9/2022 Telemundo for Hispanic Heritage Month 

Other Social Events organized by Bomba Marilé

• 12/2017 Dominos con Cafe
• 1/2018 Dominos con Cafe
• 2/2018 Conocernos con Comida Caribeña 
• 2/2019 Lets Play Dominos 
• 3/2019 Documentary showing “Nuestra Herencia Africana”
• 4/2019 Lets Play Dominos
• 6/2019 Documentary showing “The Last Colony”
• 7/2019 Documentary showing “We are Still Here, The Taino Lives”
• 7/2019 Noche de Comida Caribeña 
• 8/2019 Pa’ La Playa- Beach day at Jordanelle State Park 
• 8/2019 Documentary Showing: “My Puerto Rico: The True History”
• 9/2019 Documentary Showing “Migration- the Puerto Rican Experience” 
• 9/2019 Ancestry Board 
• 12/2019 Dominó y Briscas 
• 12/2019 Documentary Showing “Érase Una Vez en Puerto Rico” 
• 1/2020 Plena pa los Reyes at Papito Moe’s 
• 2/2020 Dominoes and Brisca 
• 12/2022 Documentary and discussion “Take Over”

PR Relief efforts by Bomba Marile

• 1/2020 Collection drive for donations at Monsieur Crepes
• 1/2020 Bingo pa Borinquen fundraiser

A bit of our story.

It is easy to miss the warmth of latin culture in a place that is so far from everything, like Utah. It was the need to connect with other Puerto Ricans and latinxs who are passionate about Puerto Rican folklore, that united what are now the Bomba Marilé group members.

After a bomba workshop offered in Utah on November 2017 by Héctor Lugo and Shefali Shah, instructors of “Bay Area Bomba y Plena Workshop”, we started meeting weekly so that we could study bomba musicality and dance. With a lot of patience and optimism, we continue to study so that we can represent Afro-Puerto Rican culture with the respect it deserves.

It is said that “marilé” is a combination of the words ‘mar’, which means ‘sea’ in Spanish, and the word ‘ile’, which means ‘home’ in Yoruba. The name makes us think of the place we love so much, Borinquen: the birthplace of bomba, and the cause of our union.