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| Bamboula |
Mention the
word "Bamboula" and few Virgin Islanders today will know what you're
talking about. We once did. The Bamboula was an African-derived dance, music
and drumming tradition that flourished in the Virgin Islands prior to the 20th
century; it is cousin to the "Bomba”, an African-inspired folkloric tradition
that still thrives in Puerto Rico.
This
tradition "can be traced" to the Congo River region of Africa writes
Margot Lieth-Phillip, Ph.D, in the preface of Zoop, Zoop, Zoop:
Traditional Music and folklore of St. Croix, St. Thomas and
St. John. Some researchers speculate the Bamboula might have also made
its way to New Orleans.
But the
Bamboula was not merely a form of entertainment. In the book Old Time
Masquerading in the Virgin Islands by Robert Nichols, a local Virgin
Islander named Chas Emmanuel says: "the bamboula functioned as the eyes
and the ears of the society and served both as a local tabloid and scandal
sheet rolled into one."
What became
of this art form? Nichols says "strong social pressure" from
the colonial establishment led to the decline of the Bamboula as a folkloric
expression.
In the
following video listen and watch the dance, as these women talk about the
history of Bamboula and its role in the struggle for freedom and equality
throughout Caribbean. Learn how they keep the Bamboula tradition going, proud
to be not only an American but an American Virgin-Islander.
[from Colors, November 2013]
