Jannira Roman Laguer English Transcription

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, my name is Amanda Ortiz, and today, August 19, 2023, for my research project titled, “Puerto Rican Bomba Fashions: Consumption, Presentation, and Meaning Making” I will be interviewing Jannira Roman Laguer. Thank you for being here Jannira, it is a pleasure to have you and to be able to talk to you for a little while. The purpose of this study is, forgive me, to collect and document information from Puerto Rican bomberos, practitioners of Puerto Rican Bomba, about their experiences with Bomba and the Bomba dress to understand the deeper meanings and uses of this dress. We start with some questions about demographic data, how old are you Jannira?

Jannira Roman Laguer

40.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Where do you currently live?

Jannira Roman Laguer

In Aguada.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you were born there, did you always live there…?

Jannira Roman Laguer

I was born and raised in New York. Both of my parents are from Aguada, Puerto Rico. My mom moved to New York when she was around 23 years old. I was born in Mineola, which is a town on Long Island, New York. I studied my bachelor’s and my master’s degree in New York, so I was born and raised in New York, but I feel very Puerto Rican. In Puerto Rico, I have been, I have traveled to Puerto Rico basically all my life but from, and I have lived here in different periods or stages of my development, but I have been here for the last seven years.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And where did you say your parents were from?

Jannira Roman Laguer

From Aguada.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Ah okay, super, what do you do for a living?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, I am a director, so I want to say that obviously I do not represent veteran, right now, what I am talking about has nothing to do with the department of veterans, I have to say that because I work for the federal government, but yes I am the director of a mental health area within the veterans department where I give psychological treatment to combatants of, of, to soldiers who were, veterans who were combatants in different wars that have participated or that have been mobilized. So I coordinate and organize the psychological services provided to those veterans here in Puerto Rico. There are three centers, I am the director of one of them.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

So you mentioned that, right, you went and studied, can you tell me where specifically you studied and what you studied?

Jannira Roman Laguer

I have a bachelor’s degree in social work, I graduated from Long Island University at C.W. Post Campus. I studied a master’s degree in social work as well, and I did that at Suny Stonybrooke University in Long Island, New York. The doctorate in [inaudible] social work and that was in Chicago, so I have been studying all my life, but and the, the, the, my doctorate is in clinical social work with a specialty in psychodynamic treatment and another specialty in, in treatment specifically for military. I have other specialties, right, where I work with trauma, specifically sexual trauma, and I am also certified in a lot of things, one of the most recent is in, is in, that hypnosis of, and well, nothing of my life besides being a dancer and that, and that I use dance as a way to heal, I also believe a lot in psychology, because it is my profession, it is what I do and I focus on that type of treatment. So, that’s what I do my day to day…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yeah.

Jannira Roman Laguer

And I dance when I’m not doing that.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That, that is your, your life that you are dedicating to yourself right now. And they are very important jobs. What gender do you identify with and what pronouns do you use?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Female, She…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what is your sexual orientation?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Heterosexual.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are you in a romantic relationship?

Jannira Roman Laguer

That’s an interesting question, we must define romantic. Yes, we are going to say, I have a partner, yes I do have a partner, aha…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have sons or daughters?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Yes, I have an 11 year old girl. So I am a mom, I have an 11-year-old girl.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And could you tell me, if you feel comfortable, about how big your family is, what is the dynamic?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, my family is pretty interesting, but I’m a twin. I’m a twin [inaudible]. My mom has three children, my dad has nine. I am, in terms of all my brothers and sisters, I am the, the, the woman, or the, the oldest of the women, right, but I do have a brother older than me. And so I am number, analyzing, I think I would be number 2, but I am a twin so we cannot divide, I don’t know two and a half!

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

2.5.

Jannira Roman Laguer

My mother has been my idol, my everything. My mom is a single mother, she raised us alone in New York. My dad had a somewhat limited presence in my upbringing, so I have a closer relationship with my mother and obviously I have communication with my brothers, but unfortunately we didn’t grow up because we are from three different women so we didn’t really grow up together, but yes, I know them all and we try to have, right, continuous and consistent communication. As I told you, both of my parents are from Aguada, my mother is from the Guanabano neighborhood, my father is from Naranjo. And always, in my upbringing, my mother taught me the importance of, although I grew up there, for her it was always important that I went to Puerto Rico every summer, every summer, she sent me to Puerto Rico and I shared a lot with my family here and that helped me understand my Puerto Rican identity and be more grateful to come from such a diverse and beautiful island, so beautiful, but also living in New York is a world apart, it is a place where there is a lot of diversity and also there are many Puerto Ricans, so it was challenging to understand who I am, who I was as a Puerto Rican woman, it was very challenging, and you know I come from a Black mother, who is Puerto Rican. We have the racial dynamics of the United States, it is a little different than Puerto Rico, it is not that there is no racism in Puerto Rico, but the dynamics of racism are a little different…but nothing, I can talk a lot, you tell me where to stop.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, this is your interview, so this is for you, as long as you feel comfortable sharing, you know, this is to listen to your story, your experiences, and your good, I’m here all day if I need to.

Jannira Roman Laguer

I am an open book, but yes, I grew up in a single parent home with a Puerto Rican, Black mother in New York. So it was pretty interesting, with many limitations and few resources, and quite humble, right, my upbringing was quite humble, but with a lot of love, right, a lot of love, a lot of warmth, a lot of affection, and many life lessons because my mom is phenomenal in those aspects.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

How interesting that you have that experience of, true, of being Puerto Rican in the diaspora, but you also have those connections from the island as well, that we could do an interview with that alone.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Exactly.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thank you for sharing that part of your life, do you have any physical or movement disabilities?

Jannira Roman Laguer

One that?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have a physical or movement disability?

Jannira Roman Laguer

No, no.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Could you share your household income at the moment or more or less?

Jannira Roman Laguer

I think I’m already close to 98 thousand.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have, and you mentioned this a little bit, but do you have any religious or spiritual affiliation?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Yes, I practice the Isese tradition, which is the Nigerian tradition. Have you heard it before?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I think I’ve heard it, but as a name, not specifically.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, Isese is the root of what many people, right, in the diaspora have a little more knowledge, right, they have heard more about what lukumi or Santeria is, right. I don’t practice that branch in particular, I practice the Nigerian tradition, which is called Isese, which is where, where this tradition was born and, at…the impact of colonization and slavery, well now we have other traditions that have, that are similar but we don’t practice in the same way that they come from this tradition which is where, where everything, everything else comes from. If you are understanding me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Is it the root?

Jannira Roman Laguer

That is the root, that is the root and when, right, there are some people who tell you, “I am a traditionalist, I am a traditional practitioner,” that means that we practice, I don’t want to say the original because I don’t want to sound like I’m minimizing any other type of tradition, because all traditions are beautiful, but this is the root, and from here, right, is where everything else comes from, so I practice the tradition…the Nigerian tradition, let’s put it like this.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

It’s called Isese?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Which is called Isese.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, thank you for, right, sharing a little bit about yourself. Now we are going to return to a topic that we talked about a little bit, which is about your identity as a Puerto Rican. And my question for you is, what does it mean for you to be Puerto Rican?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Wow, for me being Puerto Rican is something, in addition to something, a beautiful experience, right, and as unique as our culture is, the identity of our people, our history, our suffering but also our joy. When I, when I evaluate what it means for me to be Puerto Rican, it is an identity that is organic and that flows, and that is continuous, that is, what I thought I was, what I thought my Puerto Rican identity was at least in my 20s, it is not the same as what I analyze now at 40 years old, right. I come from a black mother, from a Puerto Rican father, that although we are all, right, different…although we are all, right, from, we are not limited to being Spanish, African, and Taino because we know that there is so much diversity far beyond being Spanish and the different tribes that came and the Taino Indians, we have that mix, right, but if I told you where I identify myself most, I can’t deny that I identify most with my African descent, right, and that, that could be because of many things, right, if I analyze it, it could also be because I have chosen, right, to identify myself more in that area of, within the diversity of who Jannira Roman Laguer is and within the diversity of who we are, of who we are as Puerto Ricans, right. But, I think that, that, that it is so much the love and the, and the, the admiration that I have for my mother of what she was able to do with three boys in New York City, being a black, Latina woman, and have all the odds against her, because she didn’t speak English. I see so much strength in her that I identify more with what she represents to me and I have dedicated myself, although I am a Puerto Rican woman, to really understanding what my African descent is and I went far enough to get to where, to, to the trip I took, because I wanted to return to where they took us, by force, right because we didn’t have an option and get back to the motherland and connect with my ancestors directly. So for me, being Puerto Rican in these moments of my life at 40 years old is understanding the diversity within my identity without ignoring or downplaying the importance of others because they are all beautiful and wonderful when I [inaudible], I am in a sorority and my sorority name is Sister Anacaona, so my identity has been something that has been fluid and that I have connected with all those parts, right, but at this moment I have focused a lot on what it means to be an Afro-descendant Puerto Rican woman, and I can’t tell you that I have a solid answer because I’m still discovering, what that means for me, because what that may mean for me, maybe it’s not the same for you, or for my daughter. One discovers that little by little, right, so for me being Puerto Rican has been a source of great pride, although I was born and raised in New York, I don’t know why but I feel that those of us who grew up there feel that absence of not doing things as simple as, for example, eating a quenepa, or running through the countryside, or listening to the sound of the coquí, being able to drink or eat a piragua, right, and I say this not because we don’t do it there or we don’t have it, right, obviously we don’t have the coquí, but it is very different from doing it in your land, with your people, right, and for me being Puerto Rican was also the reason why I studied, went to the United States, got educated and returned to work again in my land to, to bring, right, because for me mental health is so important and really here it is a little limited. For me, being Puerto Rican, I felt a responsibility to return to my land and do work here for my Puerto Rican people. Being Puerto Rican was also very important, like, what is my responsibility as an educated Puerto Rican women with these, with these diplomas and these certificates? What am I doing to give back to my people? Cuz I coulda stayed in New York, or I lived in Texas too, I lived in Tennessee, I could have stayed there, but for me being Puerto Rican is also, what is my duty to my people? And how am I gonna give back to my community? So, I hope I answered the question.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, no, yes, really, in a very beautiful and well-thought-out way, as you said, that part about your identity being a continuity, it’s not a thing, right now.

Jannira Roman Laguer

I am still trying to figure me out, and I don’t think I, the more, the older I get the more I realize that, the more, the more I realize that I don’t have a specific answer and I am not getting it either, and I think that part of healing and finding yourself is accepting that reality, right, that is something continuous and that we don’t have to have the answers to everything and that is okay.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Exactly, these questions can be there but more so, you don’t need to have the correct and clear answer, but they make us think, which is what is important, right.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Right.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And in your experience, right, with what you have shared, have you had a moment that you feel comfortable sharing, a moment or an interaction where you have felt good or bad about your Puerto Rican identity, or more or less sure of your identity as Puerto Rican?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well look, I have always been very proud of being Puerto Rican, it doesn’t matter if they called me spic, go back to your country, don’t speak Spanish here, I mean whatever they wanted to say I did… Well there where many rough times, being, I, I lived in New York, but when people think New York they almost always think the city. I lived on Long Island, which was like the outside like the countryside, and where, where the number of people of color or Latino people was very few, right, so I grew up in a town where White power was a, a group, and it was a significant group, right, so yes because I cannot deny that I have experienced racism, not only from being a Puerto Rican Latina woman but also from being a woman of color, with a mother who visually looks black right, when they heard her speak Spanish, they were like we don’t understand what happened here. Because many people don’t, they don’t understand that in Puerto Rico there are also black people.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Mhm…

Jannira Roman Laguer

So, for me there were many times, many, many stages in my life, where I didn’t feel like I belonged. You know, and I think that is why my search for understanding my identity would grow strong, because there where people questioning who I was and what that meant. And, and although, well, I did feel [inaudible] many times I felt that being a Latina woman and a Latina woman of color in the United States is very, very challenging, especially when you want to climb the ladder and get into a university where you want to study where you want, even now in my profession, that they respect you, right, that they respect who you are, what you have done, and respect your intelligence and what you bring to the table. Because I think most of the time as a Puerto Rican woman of color, I’ve been questioned whether or not I am smart enough, or I am capable enough, and, in those moments that has hurt my self-esteem, you know, and I’ve had to, there is something called racial trauma, which is something that I also talk about a lot and that is the effect of us, of us, that’s the effects of racism, right. How do we question who we are and our capacities to succeed? Our abilities to succeed? How do we identify with our identities? That has also made me very proud and hold on to what I feel is my truth, but at the same time it has made me have to discover what does that also mean for me? You know, and how does that, how does that, this journey of understanding myself, understanding myself as a Puerto Rican woman of color. How does that alleviate the trauma and the hurt that I experienced while living in New York? Now when I return to Puerto Rico it’s something very different because in Puerto Rico, well, I’m okay, I’m a Puerto Rican woman, I’m a woman of color, but hey, you were born and raised in New York, so what do you know about us? Right.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That you have that extra…

Jannira Roman Laguer

That extra layer, it is an additional layer and well I have felt a little bit that I have had like, prove myself and be worth it in these spaces, right, which is shocking, because you think, you know coming from the states, “oh, you know, I am going to be accepted, this is the one place I’m going to be accepted…”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Exactly, cuz is your home.

Jannira Roman Laguer

But that’s not true, but you know I don’t take it the wrong way, I also understand it as the same trauma that we have suffered as people here in Puerto Rico because of colonization and what that means to us and identity. So, when we talk about Puerto Rican identity, and this is something that I was also a social work professor at the Catholic school in Ponce, when we talk about Puerto Rican identity, Puerto Rican identity is so complicated and so diverse according to your experience, where you grew up, what is your political affiliation, is it so, and so diverse, how do you identify yourself as a Puerto Rican person, that is why no answer for me is the correct one because it is according to how you feel as a human, right. Obviously I would love for everyone to feel the way I feel, but they are my experiences and my experiences make me have a unique vision of what it means to be Puerto Rican, right. So, when I arrived in Puerto Rico, I discovered that, since I am, you know, I am a therapist, I think in a very objective way, never, ever, I did not internalize, or tried not to internalize people looking at me as “Aha, what do you want to do here?” You weren’t born here? You’re not really Puerto Rican.” I looked at it more like you are projecting insecurities that are not your fault. These insecurities have been, in a way, influenced by colonization itself.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Wow.

Jannira Roman Laguer

I have taken that with a lot of love and what I have done was try harder so that I can earn the affection and love of the people who have grown up here. That, although I suffered there, I had resources that people here did not have, I have had to accept that as a reality, right… and it was challenging, but it was a lot, I always take all experiences with great humility, like okay, this is difficult but you are learning from this lesson.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That you can gain from that.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Right. I don’t, because there is something that I learned over the years, right, when I was, at the age of 15, 16. I processed racism in a way, with a lot of anger, right, and if I had to throw hands then I will throw hands, it doesn’t matter if I, if I lost the fight or didn’t. I learned when I went to college that you fight ignorance, not with ignorance, but you fight ignorance with education.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Period.

Jannira Roman Laguer

So I don’t take ignorance, or maybe the lack of knowledge or fear of what is different, because many times our ignorance comes from, “I don’t know this, this causes me fear, this causes me anxiety, therefore, well I’m not going to learn from this person or I’m going to have a little resistance, because I don’t feel comfortable with this person,” right. So the way that I have learned over the years to be able to combat this type of, of, right, of stereotypes or stressors or confrontations or issues, has always been how I can combat this with love, compassion, empathy, and with a lot of objectivity, right, and what this means for me in my own growth as a Puerto Rican woman who was born and raised in New York, but now I’m living in Puerto Rico, and working in Puerto Rico within a federal government, that those dynamics are okay, forgive me for the expression, but they are very confusing…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, yes that’s valid, but wow really, even I’m here like, really thinking about those experiences and the way you choose to respond is so admirable and I’m learning a lot from your response and we’re just getting started so…I’m moved. With that, right, obviously keeping in mind that what you shared that your experiences, your identity, are very complex and interconnected and are not necessarily fixed, but do you have some elements or characteristics that connect you to your Puerto Rican identity?

Jannira Roman Laguer

When you refer to characteristics, what are you referring to?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, with elements, for example it could be food, I’ve been told the music, I’ve been told the land as such. Characteristics I have had people tell me about charismatic, extroversion, I think that is the word, of Puerto Ricans, or any other characteristic that you think it is, right, obviously not everyone is going to have it, but quite general with what it is to be Puerto Rican…

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, look when I, I think about that, I think a lot about the human warmth that we Puerto Ricans have, you know, and my mom has been an example of what it means to be a woman with exceptional human warmth and that we are funny with a lot of humor. And when my mother raised us when we were, right, younger and there was nothing else to eat, maybe there was a plate of food for everyone, she relieved the situation for us with humor, she has always been a very funny woman and there have been very few times that I have seen her cry, because most of the time, she confronts situations with a smile, with laughter, right, and I, I think that Puerto Rican people through adversity we are pretty funny, comical, we take things lightly, you know, when we have to fight and we have to do a rioting and go to the capitol we do it, but when we also have to laugh in those circumstances I have seen that we are a people that can use that technique to alleviate our pain. So, the humor and the human warmth for me are things that I identify a lot because it was part of my upbringing of what my mother taught me and being helpful. I have visited other countries and I tell you that Puerto Ricans are very, we are very humanitarian people, we are very, we’re very, people with a lot of human warmth, people who welcome you with a smile, and some good mornings and some good afternoons, bon appetit, stop by. We still have those traditions quite active. We are people that are very hospitable, right. So I also like when people come to my house, “Look, sit down, do you want something to drink?” What do you want to eat?” For me that is very important and the same way I am in my work with my employees and the same way I am with my patients, right, “how do you feel? How are you? want something? how was your day? How did you get here today? How was your transition from getting up to getting in the car and getting here?” So all those elements have also made me a human being, I understand, right, I want to understand and it is my goal to be a person who connects with people with a lot of empathy, with a lot of love, how to be a person really tied to the community in those elements where I identify a lot in terms of Puerto Rican characteristics, you know. I think thats it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I’m going to be very honest with you, when you said the warmth, I thought you were going to say the heat of the island, and I was like “wow, yeah it’s too much.” Okay, so those were my questions about your Puerto Rican identity or your experiences with that. Now let’s move on to your experiences with Bomba, right, which obviously have a connection. Are you currently active in your participation in Bomba?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Yes, yes, I have been, I can easily say that I have been deeply studying what Bomba is for four years, the different styles of rhythms, the different ways it is danced in Puerto Rico. I’ve been doing it for four years and I’m still quite a bit, I’m active, when I say active because I’m still learning and I’m a student and I will always be a student, I don’t consider myself an expert in Bomba at all. But I can share my experience as a student, right, and as a Bomba dancer.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

So are you a dancer, do you do other things, sing, play, or is that your primary role?

Jannira Roman Laguer

That’s my forte, I’ve taken percussion classes, right, what it means to learn the maraca, learn to play the cua, play the barrels, I have two barrels upstairs. My daughter is also quite integrated, my daughter is more the singer, right. She said, “I sing or play and you can dance, my thing is singing, yours is dancing,” and well we have that balance. But it is important, right, and I want to clarify this that it is very important that people who are learning as a student learn all the basics. Although, although I am not the best singer, but I know how to do your choruses, I know how to understand how a song is composed according to the rhythm that is applying. Learning the, the different ways of playing the cua, the maracas, that’s why I say I’m a student, I’m going to be a student all my life because I still have much left and I’m still navigating, I’m a little bit stronger in the dance part and I still have much left because Bomba is like a world of its own and you can spend a lifetime learning, right. Bomba for me does not have, does not have, has neither a beginning nor an end. It’s, it’s just, it’s really up to you as a student how far you want to go with it, it’s up to you.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And are you from a specific Bomba region or do you have skills in different ones?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, look, I’m going to say that it’s supposed to be because I’m from the western area, right, my family is from the western area and well, the western area, the Mayagüez region, has a very particular style of dancing, right. But where my heart has taken me was to Loíza, so although I am from the western area and I appreciate that region a lot and I love how they dance, in truth, I cannot say…all the regions are beautiful, all the regions are beautiful, they all have their charm. As a dancer, you identify where your spirit calls you, I say it that way because it’s how I feel, right. Where is my calling as a dancer, and where does my spirit call me? And I cannot deny that I am extremely in love with the rhythms of Loíza and the town of Loíza, right, [inaudible] I have an apartment here, I come here on weekends, and I have dedicated myself to studying more in depth the rhythms of Loíza, which is the Six Corrio and the Corbe versus another, another, other regions. Now I am learning the southern region and how to dance in the south, that is my new project, because there are many people who are not dancing.

[Cut to 36:23- 37:00]

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

The audio went away when you were starting to talk about your project of learning the southern dance.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Ah yes, I am learning this, that style of dance because many people are not performing it, right, and I want to revive it or at least as a dancer that people see, “oh wow, she is dancing the southern style.”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, so that it is not lost among all the regions either.

Jannira Roman Laguer

It is also, it is very different from what I have been doing in the last four years, you know the Loíza dances or how the Seis Corrido and the Corbe are danced is very different, they are rhythms that, right, have not been, the Seis Corrido has not been, not all the time it has been a super-fast rhythm, true, that is something that has been developing over the years, but mostly when I dance Seis Corrido because I dance fast, versus when I am dancing the southern style, I go more slowly, you know that I am not using the same beats, right, that I am using when I dance a Seis Corrido. So that develops the artistic ability of a dancer.

[38:22-40:15]

Jannira Roman Laguer

So that’s what I’m doing now, learning and it’s a goal that I have set to be able to maximize and expand my knowledge, but to also challenge myself as a dancer, you know, are you as good dancing slower? Are you better dancing fast? Or, you have to learn as a dancer how to slow your body down. And teach it what you want your body to do and respond within that rhythm, so…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And right now, right, how often would you say that you practice or study the Bomba?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, before I left for Africa I was taking classes once or twice a week, sometimes three times a week, but I had to take a break when I returned from that trip that was exhausting spiritually, physically, mentally, well. I’ve taken a bit of a break. I have had to centralize, focus again. Today we are going to do a promo for a Bomba group to which I belong, so I am slowly returning to dancing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

To integrate again.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Exactly.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

So are you part of a group, and in what contexts do you usually, or you as an individual, in what contexts do you usually practice Bomba? Are they formal presentations, Bombazos, resistance?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, most of the time, I, I really don’t, like I haven’t had any kind of interest in belonging to any kind of group, now I just went, so this is my first time participating in a formal group. Usually, I went to the, I go to the Bombazos but I can’t deny that I’m super involved in the Bombazos either. I’ll go maybe once every month or every two to three months, but I do take a lot of classes. I have focused more on learning and being a student, although the Bombazos are also good, because in the Bombazos one has to go and participate. In order to practice you have to go to the Bombazos, but I have focused more on educating myself, reading, and trying to have a vast knowledge of what the Bomba is versus being in a group. I wanted to take my time as a dancer and learn things well before I was presenting on stage. I am a little demanding with myself and I have been very cautious about what offers have been made to me, but I try to be very cautious where I present and at what stage I am presenting myself as a dancer as such. So for me, learning is more important in my process right now than being on, on, a stage, or uploading a video for the likes, for me, it’s okay. I believe that everything has a, a, a time and it’s going to take me that time, right. For me, the most important thing is the knowledge that I am acquiring over time, through the process as a student of Bomba. But yes I have had it, now I will have the opportunity to participate in a group that is directed by Mr. Víctor Vélez, Bombarrile, which is his group, and I am very happy to have that opportunity to be able to dance and belong to a group.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what was the first time you got involved with the Bomba and do you have any reason why you decided to participate?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Well, look, I think that I have had knowledge of what Bomba is since I was very little, that I understood and said, “ah this, Bomba and Plena,” right, obviously well now I am learning that the Plena also has its place and it is very different from the Bomba, true, but I think every Puerto Rican knows, yes, we have Bomba and Plena like that, but we don’t really know the context or the historical context of each one, and the differences of each of our genres. When I, I dance other, true other types of music, other genres, when I arrived in Puerto Rico this last time [inaudible] I dedicated myself to wanting to learn Bomba, because in the history of Bomba, there is a well-known dancer named Andres Laguer, and Andres Laguer was from the town of Aguadilla and I became curious to know, are these part of my ancestors? Is this something I should continue doing? And I connected with his ancestors, right, his descendants who live in La Perla, I have been able to meet them through Bomba, which has been a very nice experience. When I started dancing Bomba, I started dancing Bomba simply because I have always liked to dance. Since I was very little, I have always liked to dance, it is my, my safe place, it is the place where I heal, it is the place where I feel that I can be me in many, many, different parts of my identity is reflected through dance that perhaps in my daily life I am a little more self-conscious, but you play me some music and it’s over. I am that person when the music is there, and there is something very special when you dance and hear the barrel or the drum. For me, the…I, my opinion, transports me to a stage of my life that is not this one, right, and connects me to many parts of my spirituality, although Bomba does not have or is not related to a religion, right. We talk about spirituality, but it’s not connected to a religion, right. But it does connect me to, I’m going to say to my spirituality and what that means to me, right. The first time I took classes was in Aguada with a friend of mine named Estrellita who is also a Bomba dancer, very talented, after Estrellita I started taking classes in Loíza with Sheila Osorio in Danzambi, I had, I was there for a while, I graduated, I am an heiress. After that I went to take a class with the great Marien Torres from Tambuye. After her, and I continue, right, taking classes with her, then I went to the COPI which is in Loíza. After COPI, I took classes with Jeanitza Avilés, who is also a tremendous dancer, and I have the, the blessing of having Mr. Victor Velez as a mentor, who is, right, he is an incredible singer, a very well-known person in Bomba, and well, I have been blessed to have spectacular mentors like Mari Terez Martínez who is from Loíza, Narcisa who is from Loíza, Nená who is from Loíza, I took classes with Jaime Pérez from Mayagüez, who is also very good, she has her studio there. I started when Mayagüez had the Bomba school in the town. So, I have taken classes with several people, and I have dedicated myself to learning from my elders because they are my elders and I respect them all a lot, and they have a lot to contribute, right, they have a lot to contribute.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And of all the experiences, groups, and, and classes, right, as a student, what have you gained through these experiences with the Bomba?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Knowledge, growth, understanding more what it means to be Puerto Rican, what it means to have resistance, right, to be resilient, how we use Bomba to heal, but how we also use the Bomba to advocate for our rights. How we use Bomba in a positive way in unity within the community. How I use the Bomba to be able to listen to my own senses, right, how I connect body, spirit, and mind inside a batey. How I respect everything that is happening in that dance. From the moment you arrive at a place and analyze how the energy is, the people when you enter pay respect to the subidor drummer and the other players who are present, how I am responding to the energy that is happening around me and the energy that is transmitting to me in those moments. How I interpret the music, right, because not only is it your throwing dance movements, depending on what rhythm you are dancing, but it is you making music with your body, and connecting with the drummer who following your movements. Why am I so fascinated by Bomba versus other genres that I have danced? I have danced salsa, reggae, hip hop, dance hall, afro beats…why Bomba? Because there is so much, there are so many things that are happening at that moment that you enter the batey, that it is not only you entering and doing what you want, it is you being aware and analyzing what you are doing with each movement. It is your connecting with your inner self and in addition to that analysis that is emerging, but your connecting with your body, your mind and your spirit within there and that everything looks good, because it is a great responsibility. Ósea la Bomba is a community and everything has its place, the one who is playing the maraca, the singer, the person, the one, the barrel players, everyone has, the one who is playing the cuas, but my responsibility when I go in there and the responsibility that I have as a dancer to respect our tradition, to respect what my elders have taught me, and to do it well, with dignity and respect, right. It’s not just me going in there and doing it because I want them to take a video of me so they can upload it on Facebook, no, it’s that when you are there you have a responsibility and the oral education that your elders have transmitted to you, there you are going to leave in that batey. What Maritere taught me, what Marien taught me, what Narcisa taught me, what Sheila Osorio taught me, what Jamie taught me, what Victor Vélez taught me, what, that is going to be reflected in what I left there and it is a big responsibility because they are elders, they have made history with Puerto Rican Bomba, that is why I am very cautious of where I present and that when I present myself they say what a good student she is. Not the likes, or do things so people tell you, “Damn, you danced well,” no, that your elders come and tell you, “you know you’re a respectful dancer, you’re a responsible dancer.” That is my conflict with many, many people who are entering Bomba who are not responsible for what they are doing, right, who are not going to their elders to ask them, “look, teach me,” or it may be that they also don’t have the knowledge of who I have to go to, right, who I have to turn to, who are the elders, who are the people who are experts in this area, right, but for me as a dancer, it is very important for me if there is something that I can tell you here and that I say out loud is being a responsible and respectful dancer, period.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, because you are, that is a legacy, you are not dancing just for yourself, you are dancing for your elders and ancestors.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Exact.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it is a very big responsibility. Before we move on to the Bomba clothing, I wanted to ask you, do you have any Bomba rhythm that you connect or identify with?

Jannira Roman Laguer

For me, the rhythm that I connect the most with, the one that I connect the most with, is the rhythms of the Seis Corrido and Cuerbe, which are the native rhythms of, of Loíza, but I love them all, I am still, right, learning how to dance them all, according to the region they are representing because I can dance a Sica, right, we are going to say cangrejero versus a Sica as a person from the Mayagüez area dances it, it is true that they are going to dance it a little differently, right, but the rhythms that call me the most, and I like them and when I hear it I have to enter the batey, I know, I know, I feel like a movement that I cannot control and I have to do it because it is very contagious, well I cannot deny that it is the Seis Corrido.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Super, when you dance, speaking of clothing, now, moving on to that topic, what do you usually wear? Accessories, clothing, do you have something that you usually wear when you dance?

Jannira Roman Laguer

This is something very interesting, because the clothing and what is used in the Bomba has changed over the years and it has changed a lot, right. We know that our ancestors did not wear skirts, right, let’s put it that way, at least it is not the skirt that we have now to dance Bomba. They danced with what there was, with what they had, what was available with their resources, but this clothing thing is something relatively new, right, the headwraps were not something they originally used either, right, this has been a development and some influences from other people who have come to Puerto Rico. What the show is versus what you wear when you go to a batey, a Bombazo within the community, right. Particularly, since I dance mostly the bateys where I go are here in Loíza, well look here really when you dance a Seis Corrido you don’t dance it with a skirt, you can do it at the discretion of the dancer, there is no problem with you dancing with a skirt. There are dancers who dance it very cool, it looks spectacular on them, but really the Seis Corrido is not danced with a skirt. So when I go to a batey, right, for example depending on where I am like today I’m going to be on a beach, I’m not going to wear flip flops, I’m not going to wear a skirt, I mostly maybe wear jean shorts, a very cute blouse, some light earrings so I can move, because if they are too heavy, I’m not going to wear them because they limit my movement. I wear comfortable clothes or I also wear linen clothes that I really like, but that is my style Jannira Roman Laguer, that is not what you have to, that when you go to dance in Loíza you have to wear this and these are the rules. No, it is not, as a dancer, my preference specifically when we are talking about the Seis Corrido, I prefer to dance without the skirt, it is my preference. Also, obviously I am in transition as a dancer, analyzing how I want to represent myself, how I want to see myself in the bateys, so wearing very similar to what our ancestors used, which were like little robes, right, because women didn’t wear pants, right, most of the time it was a little dress, or a little skirt, we usually weren’t in pants. I’m in that transition, another thing I would like to integrate is wrappers. When I was in Yoruba land, and long before I went to Yoruba land, the clothing of the Yoruba people, of the women, are wrappers, which are skirts that are literally a fabric that they measure for you, they will sew it to your measurements and you wrap them around your waist. And, and like the Seis Corrido, I’m talking about the Seis Corrido specifically, you are not required to dance with a skirt, right, although let me tell you…if you go to a batey, and you don’t have a skirt, it’s not that you can’t dance any rhythm. If you want to dance without a skirt, you can do it, but there are rhythms where the skirt is used a little more, but the human being can dance with whatever they want, let’s make that clear. There are rhythms that I am not going to deny to you, there are elders that if you enter without a skirt, they will look at you like, “what are you doing? Why didn’t you dance that rhythm with your skirt?” right, as there are also elders here in Loíza, if you dance a Seis Corrido, their preference is not to dance it with a skirt, because traditionally it is not danced with a skirt, right. Here in Loíza, the historical context of when Bomba was developed is very different from other regions, right. So me particularly as a dancer, because the Seis Corrido is the rhythm that I like the most, mostly you are not going to see me in a skirt. Now, if I go to another place, another region, and I decide to dance a Sica, I’m going to wear the skirt.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And I ask you, you made the clarification that some rhythms, right, obviously nowadays you dance with whatever, a scarf or nothing, but you made the clarification that there are some rhythms that if you don’t dance with the Bomba, the elders are going to give you a look, does that have to do with the history of that rhythm, with traditions?

Jannira Roman Laguer

That has to do with history, and how it has developed, and how in that particular region they have executed it over the years, right, but that is some elders, because there are other elders who are not going to tell you anything at all. Since I am demanding and I don’t like being lied to, if I go to an elder and ask them, they will tell me, “well look Jannira, my preference is X, Y,” and I will respect the preference of that elder, and I am going to respect the region where I am visiting, because I am aware as a dancer that this is something else, not only is it you knowing the different rhythms it is also knowing where you are standing, where you are dancing and in what region you are in. If I am dancing in the Mayagüez area, I am aware that in the Mayagüez area people dance in a certain way, and I am adapting to that region and respecting the history of that region, that is why I say that the most important thing is be a responsible dancer. That is why I say that this is so and so complex, because not only do I as a dancer have to learn the different rhythms, know what rhythm they are playing, know how I am going to enter the batey, take a good walk, but understand where I am standing. Where am I? Okay, I’m in, we’re dancing Cangrejero style, okay Jannira, delete Loiza, we are doing this style. Okay, I’m listening a southern rhythm, how am I going to dance? Okay, well look this is what my teacher Jeanitza taught me. Let’s sacer, let’s take, those methods out and apply them here. Not only, and maybe I don’t know if many people have told you this, but it’s not just you going in and dancing, “oh yes I know the basic steps of Sica and that’s it.” No, it’s just that you have to also realize where you are and where you are dancing and who is there and who is watching you.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And when you plan your outfits and if you decide to wear a skirt, what material is it usually made of, do you have someone who makes them for you, do you have preferences?

Jannira Roman Laguer

The skirts that I have are made, they are made by a seamstress named Inés, I think I owe her last name to you, but her last name is Chaklan. She is the one who makes most of the skirts for Marien Torres’ Tambuyé students and she does it to her own. Yes, well, I like it, yes I have also bought a skirt, forgive me for not mentioning that I also took classes with Maribella Burgos, and I have also bought a skirt from her, which is a different style of skirt, right. As a dancer, I have been learning how to handle the different styles of skirts because the different styles of skirt according to the fabric and the amount of fabric is how you are going to use it and how you are going to move it inside a batey. So that is also another complex part of the dancer, what type of skirt you are using. For example, I too, I had a seamstress who made me a skirt in Mayagüez and the Mayagüez skirt is very light, it doesn’t have much flare, it’s a little simpler, why? Because in Mayagüez usually the dancer does not raise her skirt much. There is a reason why the seamstress makes the skirt, even that has her method, because the seamstress makes the skirt in such a way, according to where you are, in what region, and how it is danced there, so it is something good complex. So, if I know that I am going to be dancing in Mayagüez, then I am going to use that skirt, in particular, because it is in accordance with the steps that I am going to do and it is going to facilitate what I want to demonstrate in that batey. If I want to express myself with much more flare, I’m going to use the one that Maribella made me, because when I turn, when I turn, that skirt goes, that skirt is going to rise in a spectacular way, but it’s a little heavier, so I have to think about how I handle that skirt, what movements I’m going to do so that the skirt looks good and that I look like a competent dancer, because I’m not going to enter a batey and wear a huge skirt and not know how to handle it, not know how to use it. You have to be aware of the fabric, the type of flare you have, the movements that you are going to use. For example, what my teacher Jeanitza is teaching me is that southern dances don’t raise the skirt much either, they emphasize foot movements. So there I also have to be aware because I’m not going to wear a skirt that has a lot of flow for that type of rhythm because it doesn’t require it, but you also as a dancer have to analyze where you are dancing, what you are going to dance, and what skirt do you want to wear if you are going to wear that skirt. In Seis Corrido, I am very aware, me Jannira Roman Laguer, because I am well aware that, that the types of dance movements that I give are a lot of hip, a lot of movement, a lot of hip, that I am shaking my shoulders a lot , that I am doing stronger blows, be aware of what type of clothes I am going to wear, because I am not going to wear, right, me, I, whoever wants to do it more power to you girl, do your thing, but I I’m not going to wear a blouse where…my breasts, I could possibly have an accident. I’m not going to wear, right, because I have a large behind, I’m not going to wear a short dress. I am also aware of what, of the respect that one, that many people do not have, but there is a respect when you enter that batey of what you are doing with your body, right, and with what you wear and how you project yourself, and that is also important and you have to be aware of that.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it’s not just about putting on and with the skirt specifically, it’s not about putting on a skirt and let’s go, it’s late, as the consent of the person who made it, what material is important…

Jannira Roman Laguer

At least I do, and I do, and it’s because it’s my personality, I am a therapist so I analyze everything. Before I go to a batey, I say ok where I’m going, I’m in Mayagüez, ok, I’m in Rio Piedras, ok no, I’m in Loíza, ok I’m in Ponce. I’m going to be in that place, what possibly or what possible rhythm I’m going to dance, that I feel comfortable and that I feel good, maybe this rhythm and this rhythm, perfect, I’m going to take this one. Also the colors, the colors that I like, that catch my attention. I like white, I like yellow. Also use colors that psychologically attract a lot of peace and serenity to me, because when you enter a batey, I do feel that you have to be well connected to everything that is going to arise within that space, and I am very, I am very intentional with what I do.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it shows, it’s good.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Sometimes I wear earrings with the African continent, sometimes if I want I wear a headwrap and if I don’t want to I don’t wear it, it’s not a requirement right, it’s not like, “oh my God, if you don’t wear a turban you are not dancing Bomba,” that’s not true. So, it all depends on how Jannira feels, where Jannira is going to dance, the rhythm she is going to dance, and consciously what dance movements, according to the rhythm, that I am going to be using and how that skirt suits me as dancer at that time.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And, today there are many styles of Bomba, of Bomba clothing, there is the most traditional one that you usually see more in presentations and in more formal groups, and there is the more informal or more street dress, which, this project has taught me that there is nothing wrong with either of the two, both have their place and their importance, but I have a question about authenticity, about the essence, do you think that some elements about the clothing maintain that authenticity or that essence of Bomba or what is your opinion on that?

Jannira Roman Laguer

It’s just that it depends on the region and where you are. If we are going to talk about Loíza, well, that doesn’t apply. Obviously, we are going to talk about the difference between me entering a community batey and me making a presentation on stage. Usually, even in the Loíza groups, if you are going to make a group, you are wearing Bomba clothing and when we talk traditional, we are talking about what is traditional but still very new in recent times, right. We have adopted it as a clothing that we use Bomba performances, right. Yes that is, unquestionably that happens, right. I do understand that when we are talking about professional presentations it does have its space and place, and obviously there is a professionalism that is seen within our culture, within our folkloric tradition of the clothing that we use and how we represent the Puerto Rican Bomba, and that I think it should stay that way and there is no problem, but when we are talking about community and a batey the human being is going to enter as he wishes, right. You want to dance with a skirt that is your option, right, as long as someone like, like, a practitioner of Bomba understands that there is a responsibility for what happens within your dance, right, and what you have on, and what are the rhythms that you are dancing, right. But I understand that the stage part is important for us to have that, and if I am now going to represent the Bomba in another country, then obviously one wants to take their clothing, but let us be clear that this clothing was not used when the Bomba began its roots, they didn’t wear headwraps, maybe they used a cloth on their head and that was it, what we are doing now is quite “new age,” you know in comparison to the, the number of years that Bomba has existed and, and, and the essence of what the Bomba as such began, right, which was about resistance, community, and expressing our pain, our feelings, our joys, and to the lof the above, right. So, it’s hard for me to answer that question because I think that clothes is important, you know, and, and the skirt has its place, right, and the type of skirt and the fabric and the color and everything that you as a dancer, because we know that there are also men who are wearing the skirt, how you want, how you want to look and how you represent yourself as a dancer within the Bomba, right, but what is spectacle on stage is a different ball game, completely different ball game. I don’t think that the authenticity of how I dance is defined by what I wear. My authenticity of what, of my dance is based on what I do. The clothes are just an accessory to what I am doing as a dancer, and a beautiful one at that, but it doesn’t take away from the authenticity of my people or the authenticity of what Bomba represents, and what is meant to represent for my people when they didn’t have those accessories. So who I am as a person and how I evolved in that dance that is my authenticity. The dress, the turban, my earrings, you know, my makeup is just sprinkles on the ice cream, you know, but authenticity, being an authentic dancer is not defined by what you have on, it’s only adding to the wonderful colors and recipes of what we doing at that moment.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it complements more than defines.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Exactly, it definitely complements.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you really have a lot of knowledge, and I know that, obviously it is part of the mentors and you also mentioned, that I like that you mentioned the oral tradition in the Bomba how knowledge moves from generation to generation orally, but I am curious that if you have, have you had other resources or other means that you have been able to acquire all this information or has it all been because of your mentors and your experiences? If that makes sense.

Jannira Roman Laguer

La Bomba is, it is an oral tradition, and a beautiful one…the tradition, for example, my Isese tradition that is an oral tradition, now there are books and there are articles that have come out, where they talk about Bomba, right, There is an educator called Melanie, her name is Melanie, I forgot her name…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Melanie Maldonado.

Jannira Roman Laguer

Yes, I’ve come across her articles, right, and I have taken the time to read and to be part of workshops, but I won’t lie that the main information and education has come from speaking to my elders and taking the time to learn from them and respect them and it is something that our generation has to learn a lot to respect our elders and not agree, maybe I don’t agree, but respect them, respect and respect the tradition and how this transition and these new movements of Bomba have arisen, but always respecting the base and the foundations of what the Bomba is, right. So in my knowledge most have been more, more oral than anything else, right, and harassing them to teach me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Aha, yes searching, searching.

Jannira Roman Laguer

No, it hasn’t been easy, it’s not like I went, “oh yeah, baby, I’ll teach you tomorrow at 5,” it has been like, “look, I want to learn,” “yes, that’s okay,” “no, no seriously, I want to learn,” “okay, call me,” “no, but I really want,” until they get tired of me. “Okay, mija, I’ll give you a class.”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

They, “finish and sit down.”

Jannira Roman Laguer

Exactly, it hasn’t been like, I am not gonna lie it hasn’t been like an easy thing, and it’s not because people don’t want to teach you, but a lot of our elders are very busy people, right. And there are many, and there are many people who see the Bomba, “oh I want to learn,” and then two or three classes fail and then they don’t come back at all, or they don’t understand that this is not something that you learn and that tomorrow you go to be the most spectacular dancer, not that this entails a lot of time, effort, and time, so…also the fact that I have learned a lot is me, it is me, it is being persistent in wanting to learn, and no, and when they tell me no, I say yes, I tell you yes, yes, yes, you are going to teach me. People tell me, “in truth, you are too much, you know” and, and, you know I’ve been blessed that when people get to know me, they know that my intention is good and that my heart is in the right place, and that has helped me to have great mentors.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, we are already in the last few questions and these next two are going to be a little bit, perhaps already answered a little bit, but it is to confirm, right. How has your experience with Bomba influenced your identity as a Puerto Rican?

Jannira Roman Laguer

I have always had a great love and respect for Puerto Rican culture, but more now, more now. This “boom” of the Bomba has been significant through, there is a video circulating of me, which has like 3 million views…this morning I got a message from a girl from Trinidad and Tobago, telling me that just by watching my video that her heart was at ease and at peace because she saw me dance, and as a therapist that to me is like the best comment I can receive, not, “you’re the best dancer,” no, “but when I saw you dance something happened to me in my spirit, something, something happened where I felt like I knew you, I felt like I was with you,” you know, that to me is, that’s Bomba, that’s Bomba, you know. So, that’s what keeps me going, right, I’m, right, I have this video that we’re going to do the shooting today, I’m a little nervous because, one thing is you doing it in an organic, natural environment, another thing is that you know that they are, you know…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes produced.

Jannira Roman Laguer

But, this morning she sent me that message and it is what I needed to feel confident, you know. So for me, you know, what has have kept going and how my identity has continued to grow is that Puerto Rican people and our music influences an entire world. I have received messages from people from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, people from England, I mean I’ve received so many messages from people all over the world, who say, “wow this is so similar to what we do here,” or “I don’t know exactly what you’re doing, but damn that, the rhythm, the sound of the barrels, it’s contagious,” and the fact that people can connect without really knowing what Bomba is or what the Puerto Rican culture is, the fact that they can, they can, they feel some kind of connection with it, that’s awesome. Because we return again that that’s the love for humanity and the fact that we can do it through music is, is amazing, and the fact that we can do it with our music. The fact that I can do that with our music, Puerto Rican music, I mean…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Awesome.

Jannira Roman Laguer

I don’t know, what better gift than that, you know!

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you think that your experience with Bomba has also influenced your other identities or also your other parts of your identity? Not only as a Puerto Rican.

Jannira Roman Laguer

It has, it has made me more responsible about my knowledge. No, it has made me more, I have always been a very studious woman, but when I started learning about Bomba, there, there began to be many questions and gaps and that has made me investigate more and make connections. For example, I want to know how the Puerto Rican Bomba connects with the different African countries from where our ancestors came to Puerto Rico, because when you hear, for example, a Yuba, I was in Yoruba land and they played a Bata and you could hear, completely the same, I said to myself, “did that come from here?” There are Bomba rhythms from Puerto Rico that when you hear them in different tribes, different countries in Africa, you say, “hey, that’s a Guembe, that’s a Yuba, that’s a Sica, that’s a Seis Corrido, that’s a Corbe,” and it has made me more knowledgeable not only about Puerto Rican Bomba, but where these rhythms come from. Since we have not yet made that connection, that link, we have not yet investigated that part because it has been difficult for us, because the documentation, what we have is a little limited, well when I went there to Yoruba land, it was also for that. I danced Bomba there and I showed them that it was Bomba, right, they looked like and they said, “wow,” you know, “this sounds the same,” and I was like, “I know right,” and then they told me, “so you are Yoruba too,” and I said “probably, I can’t tell you for sure,” I mean I can tell you because I did my DNA ancestry and I came out with a percentage from Nigeria. That is not relevant to all of us, but I do not doubt that there were Yoruba people on our island, and from Congo, and different other tribes, but they were surprised because they said, they told me, “that means that you might be Yoruba for real, you know,” and I was like, “yeah, this is not a lie,” because they don’t study…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Of course, they don’t know

Jannira Roman Laguer

They, they don’t study the slave trade, and where all of their influences went. For them, some of them, they don’t know that it spread to the diaspora, you know, they are learning about that from us [1:24:32]

[Cut to 1:25:00]

Jannira Roman Laguer

What we need is to provoke the hunger to know, you know now that I’m like, “okay, I know this and this all makes sense, but there’s possibilities that this is correlated to this,” I need to know that. For my growth as a dancer, I have a teacher who is a West African dance dancer and is also my mentor within the religion, Iyanifa Ifanike, when she came to Puerto Rico she also gave me dance coaching she told me , “look listen to this rhythm, from sorsornet and listen to this rhythm in Bomba and see if it sounds the same,” and I said, “wow,” and she told me, “that’s how they dance, in this region of Africa,” and she taught me the steps, I looked at them and I said, “okay, but that’s how we dance here,” and she said to me, “what if you can make a connection between the two as a dancer?” That’s my next step, that’s my next baby, but I am being very ambitious, super ambitious so for now, you know I want to master what we have here to then explore other West African dances and try to make a bridge. Not to add to it, but as a dancer, as a professional dancer, how I apply this to my repertoire of steps that I already have.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Wow, how awesome. Much success with that and when, when, really, you continue with those steps, let me know that I would love to see, right, where that takes you. And my last question would be, does your participation in the Bomba and your use of clothing influence your daily style of what you wear day to day or is that’s for Bomba and I wear what I wear every day?

Jannira Roman Laguer

I believe that my clothing, what I wear every day represents my African descent. I am almost always using a piece from, of a Yoruba style, particularly Yoruba because it is the, Africa is vast and their traditions are vast and the clothing is vast, I mean, Africa is a world apart, right, only when I speak for I’m talking at least about my African descent, more about how I connect with it, with the Yoruba tradition and their clothing, so almost always I am daily in my daily life, I am always presenting myself, of my tradition, right. That can be earrings, it can be a bracelet, it can be a necklace, my elekes, my ilde, which are the bracelets that you see me wearing. So, my clothing is always in representation of my African descent, that, that is not, that is a lifestyle, because what I am doing in my life, particularly with my African descent, is a lifestyle, it is not something that I take off, I wear it as a fashion statement, no it is my way of life, that represents my people, it represents where we were taken from, what we were, what was taken from us. For me, when I wear something that represents my African descent it is me saying to the colonizer, you haven’t taken absolutely anything. I am here, I am standing, my tradition and my culture is very much alive as much as you want to strip it away from me, right, so for me, it is a style of living.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Wow, awesome, well those were all my questions Jannira, thank you for opening up so much with your answers for sharing those beautiful experiences, that knowledge that you have, really, I have learned a lot and I have enjoyed, right, having you here and listening to your stories. Before finishing the recording, would you like to share something else?

Jannira Roman Laguer

Mothing much, I am at disposal, at the university, if you need a workshop one day, even if it is on mental health, I am always very willing, I have done it several times for universities, right, to talk about different topics including Bomba. [1:29:33]

[Cut to 1:30:22]

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thank you and thank you for sharing again.