Ivette Negrón English Transcription

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well today, June, July 8, 2023, I will be interviewing Ivette Negrón. My name is Amanda Ortiz and for my research project titled, Puerto Rican Bomba Fashions: Consumption, Performance and Meaning-Making”, I will be interviewing Ivette. Thank you for being here Ivette, it is an honor. The purpose of this study is to collect and document information from Puerto Rican Bomberos and practitioners about their experiences with Bomba and the Bomba dress in order to understand the deeper meanings and uses of the dress in the context of identity, space and locality. Let’s start with the demographic questions, how old are you?

Ivette Negrón

54.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Where do you live?

Ivette Negrón

I live in Río Piedras.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Have you always lived there?

Ivette Negrón

No, I am a native of the town of Salinas, and then in ’91 I moved to Río Piedras because I came to study and so I stayed here.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What do you do for a living?

Ivette Negrón

I currently work as a statistics coordinator with the obstetrics and gynecology residency.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What type of education have you completed and where did you complete it?

Ivette Negrón

Well, look, I did my bachelor’s degree at the Cayey University College, which today is UPR Cayey. And then I went on to do my master’s degree in demography at the graduate school of public health in medical residencies.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What gender do you identify with and what pronouns do you use?

Ivette Negrón

I consider myself a woman, female.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What is your sexual orientation?

Ivette Negrón

I am heterosexual.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are you in a romantic relationship?

Ivette Negrón

Not right now.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have children?

Ivette Negrón

Yes, one child.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Can you tell me a little about your family, like where are they from, how big your family is…

Ivette Negrón

Well, my family is from the countryside, both my dad’s and my mom’s family. I don’t have much experience, I mean, there isn’t much music experience in my family, yes my mother loved to dance, but we were a family more dedicated to planted crops, we lived near the river, you had to look for water from the river, before going to school, that’s what my mom told me. My dad tells me that his grandfather was a farmer and he worked with him on the farm, there were many children. I grew up in the countryside, basically, humble people. My mom and dad finished high school with, after adulthood, through, you know, high school had some programs that offered free exams as we said. So, well, you could say that I am one of the first generations of my family on my mother’s side to finish university, a bachelors’ degree, and on my father’s side, since there were many before me, but, well, I made it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are they also from Salinas?

Ivette Negrón

No, my father is from the Abras neighborhood of Corozal and my mother is from the Parcelas Vázquez neighborhood of Salina. And, then I have two brothers older than me and we grew up in that country environment like that, on the river, we would jump into the river, looking forward for the river to rise so we could go there or ride a bicycle there.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s awesome.

Ivette Negrón

It was a very different childhood life than what exists today. And then we played with what we had, we played hide and seek and so on, so that’s where I was educated in public school, right. We went to the elementary school that was there, in the neighborhood, walking, not like now that all the children are taken to school, it wasn’t there, everyone went on foot to school, everyone returned on foot, then we went by bus to middle school, high school and so on, but I have no training in music or art, in those days there was nothing like that, so all that learning of mine of music and Bomba was done as an adult.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have any physical disabilities?

Ivette Negrón

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Could you share your household income at the moment?

Ivette Negrón

Like 36,000.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have a religious or spiritual affiliation??

Ivette Negrón

Yes, if I have it, I believe in spiritualism and well, more or less along those lines.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Super…okay, what does being Puerto Rican mean to you??

Ivette Negrón

Well, that’s what I am, right, Puerto Rican. And I feel very proud, well, to be one, although I was born in New York, but my parents are Puerto Rican, I came to live to Puerto Rico when I was 7 years old. Since then I have continued to live here. I have not left here at all, and although we have a relationship, true, very political with the United States, I really don’t feel American, even though I was born there, I feel Puerto Rican. And a lot of pride and, well, it’s very important to me because that’s what I am.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Mhm and what elements or characteristics connect you to your Puerto Rican identity?

Ivette Negrón

Well, right now, practicing Bomba connects me a lot with, with…well, with what it is to be Puerto Rican, because Bomba is not merely dancing the Bomba or playing it or singing it, but bomba has some historical elements, right. It connects us a lot with our ancestors, with our past, with a lot of history that we don’t know. There are many things that I have not known. And through Bomba I have had the opportunity to read certain readings, right, I have not read as much as I would like, but one discovers many stories that we are not taught in school or even in university. So, this music is what connects you with, with real history, that history that is not written, right, because in those times history was written by those in power. Those who were not in power, right, were the enslaved, they did not have the freedom to write, it was an oral matter. So, this has helped me do that, to connect. And then, well, it’s very interesting, it’s very interesting.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Has there ever been a time where you have felt more or less sure of your identity as a Puerto Rican?

Ivette Negrón

No, not really.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Or has there been a time when you have felt good or bad about your identity as a Puerto Rican?

Ivette Negrón

No, I have always felt very good.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Super, now we are going to talk a little about your experience with Bomba. Are you currently active in your participation?

Ivette Negrón

Yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And when was the first time you got involved with the Bomba?

Ivette Negrón

Well, look, it would be… more or less 15 years ago, I think. Well, I had the urge to learn to dance Bomba, there are many things in my life that, I have done them that way, that I get the desire to do them. At that time there was no internet, there was no Facebook. I began to ask, many people close to me did not know where Bomba could be learned. Until I asked a friend and he told me, I’m going to find out for you. And then, well, he searched around for me and, and we arrived at Modesto Cepeda’s school in Villa Palmera, and then, well, there I started, but at that moment the school was, the school was in playita, and then, well, then I started there and then I had a few years with them and then, over time, I moved on to learning with other people.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And right now you are in a group, do you dance alone?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I am in a group from Cayey and Cidra called Bomba Brava and we identify ourselves as Bomba de la Montaña. And then that was where I was presented with the opportunity to be able to, dance in a group, which was something that I had never thought about in my life because at that time there were many folkloric, right, and then, well, although that was not in my plans or in my thoughts, but I was given that opportunity and I took advantage of it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And how often do you dance or practice?

Ivette Negrón

If you are referring to practice, practice, we practice at least once a month, but presentations, well sometimes we are lucky and have presentations every month, sometimes it takes us a little longer, but this time we try to keep in practice.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you do presentations, bombazos, what other types of contexts do you dance in?

Ivette Negrón

Yes, we have made presentations, we have also made bombazos, toques de Bomba. We did about two or maybe three in the historic house of Cayeyana music. And then presentations where we are invited, privately or in, or somewhere else.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And if I’m not mistaken you told me that you are also part of Las Barrileras del 8M. Can you tell me a little more about that?

Ivette Negrón

Yes, well, I have been there for several years now, well, several years no, since it began, that first call that Marién Torres from Taller Tambuye made to gather a group of women playing barrel on March 8, in the demonstrations of the international working women’s day. And that was there in Hato Rey and then, well, I arrived there with my barrel along with many other women and there we met and then, since then, that day is sacred to me. I participate with that group. Things have been going little by little…like becoming more official so to speak, in the sense that at the beginning it was all an improvisation. We would go there and play. Now we meet, we rehearse, what are the songs that are sung, how are they going to be played? Sometimes there’s a little drama, sometimes a little poetry. And then, well and, and then we look for a message, right, every year like a message in relation, right to that day and so it has been a very cool experience, because we are all women.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Mm and that day March 8th is celebrated…

Ivette Negrón

International working women’s day, yes, and that is at a global level, all over the world. So we go there and then we put all the barrels, a batey is made and then there we all play and sing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

So you dance and play instruments?

Ivette Negrón

I play the drums a little, yes, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and do you sing, do you have other roles?

Ivette Negrón

Well, singing, I can do a chorus, but no, no, it’s not my forte, that’s not my forte, my forte is more dancing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and you belong, you know that different regions of Bombas, how they dance, are those of Mayagüez, Loíza…

Ivette Negrón

Yes, well, I am in the process of learning, but yes there are, there are some differences in the dance.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes.

Ivette Negrón

The dance of Loíza is very different from that of Santurce and, Loíza has the rhythms, right, that are known as Seis Corrido and Corvé and they have a particularity of dancing that is, it is much more body, some of them wear skirts, but the majority of women dance without skirts. And then, here in Santurce, there are others, other rhythms, right, and then the skirt is used a lot, and the skirt is used high up a lot, right, because you have to move that skirt, you have to show it. And so I’m starting to learn how to dance in the south and how they dance in the west area. So in the area, they have some particularities that, in those areas, well, it’s softer, more rhythmic, the elegance is always maintained, just as in Santurce there has to be a lot of elegance, but then you ask for a kick with your feet, right, in Mayagüez the movements emphasize the feet, not so much the skirt. And then in the south, well, the woman kind of accompanies the man with movement, right, he does his sandungueo and make his movements, but it is more of a couple’s dance and in the south they held Bomba dances and, and they tell me that in the west, some Bomba dances were also held. And then, according to what people have told me, well, people would call each other, they would say, “look on this day we are going to play in such and such a business,” and the people who were going to play and who were going to sing would arrive and everyone would come out to dance at the same time, dancing in couples, right. Then the subidor decided who, decided who he wanted to connect with, who he was going to follow, follow their footsteps with hid drum. It’s a very different dynamic, I had to learn to let go of the skirt, right, to make my language more about the body, right, because no, it’s not moving the body as if I had a skirt, right, simply with the feet, the southern sandungueo, and so it is a very cool dynamic and dancing as a couple and in a group is a very beautiful, very beautiful energy, and so it is, more or less those characteristics, but everything, everything has its, its taste, that is, that’s a good thing because it’s not the same everywhere. You know, Loíza has its, its tastes, Santurce has its own, the south, the west, and, and that’s cool, I like it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, yes, you can tell that you have a lot of knowledge and you have really learned, and you have been in the community. What messages do you understand that Puerto Ricans spread about Bomba or Bomba clothing, for example, through social networks, education, among others?

Ivette Negrón

Do you mean advice?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What, what messages do you think Puerto Ricans send through these media?

Ivette Negrón

The messages they give. Well, I have been able to see that, in recent years, there is a greater interest in wanting to know Bomba and the same thing happens with the plena, but we are talking about Bomba. And I think that’s wonderful, that people really begin to connect with, with music that is ours. What I do understand that we have to be a little careful, in the matter that you have to give importance to learning, right? It’s cool to be in a group, it’s cool to present yourself to an audience, but my experience tells me that this is a very big responsibility. And then, well, there are some fundamentals, right, that the Bomba has in the way it is played, how it is sung, how it is danced, which is important that you know it. Give yourself the opportunity to know, search, there are many schools and there are many people who know a lot here in Puerto Rico about Bomba and you should give yourself the opportunity to learn and read whenever you can…because that is important when you go out to dance Bomba, you transmit, not only the talent that you have to dance, but also knowledge, and there is pride when you go out to dance Bomba because you feel happy, you feel happy that or happy that you are dancing to your music, you are connecting with, with your being, with your ancestors, it is cool, you know the drums call you and, and it is something very special for the people who, well, we dance, well it is, it is something very special. That happens with all the arts, there is a very, very direct connection with, with what each person’s spirituality is, but I think that the message is basically that people are really liking the Bomba… It’s everywhere, you can find Bomba almost every day. Thank God the networks help a lot. Do you want to hear Bomba? You can go to different platforms and you find music, you find videos, there are people who dedicate themselves to going to different activities, to recording Bomba activities, cultural activities of other genres as well and then that is very cool. And I think that basically that is the message that I think is being given.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And for you, you, Ivette, what does the Bomba mean to you?

Ivette Negrón

Well, at this moment I can tell you that Bomba is like a part of me, you know. To talk about myself and not talk about Bomba like no, no, now, it’s important to me. I think about the Bomba, well, practically every day. Sometimes I’m alone in my house and I start dancing… and I have a lot of desire and a lot of interest to continue learning and to continue developing. And at this moment, after so many years, basically my interest is that, it is more to learn with more history, at the beginning I was more focused on, I want to learn to dance, I want to learn to play, more, it is more musical. I am already at the stage where I want, well, more, to really formalize that learning more through reading, participating in activities, talking with people who know, right, a lot about, especially with the elderly. Well, I’m in, like in that stage.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

¿Yes, and do you have any of the Bomba rhythms that you identify with?

Ivette Negrón

Well look, it’s very difficult for me to tell you that I have a favorite rhythm. I get carried away a lot by what I was experiencing at that moment. There are times when a well-touched Sica calls me, there are times when a Yuba calls me, it all depends on how you feel. I always remember one day when I was at a Bomba show and they started with a Holandes and I went out dancing, and I really enjoyed that dance, I always remember it and I think that’s very important, to go out to dance when the drums tell you now is, they call you because you enjoy it, it’s a, it’s totally different from when you dance for the sake of dancing, so I don’t have a favorite rhythm.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what have you gained through Bomba? Right, you’ve shared about it already, but be it emotionally, socially…

Ivette Negrón

It has helped me a lot in terms of confidence. I was very shy, although you may not believe it, I was very embarrassed to go out dancing. It took me many years to dare to jump into the batey, and the first times I did it I came out very tense, very tense, so I didn’t enjoy it. And, but I decided that I was going to dance Bomba and then accepting the invitation to dance with the group, well, that has helped me a lot, to dance in front of an audience, to express myself in front of an audience. I had told you that also thanks to Bomba I have had the opportunity to participate in videos. I had the opportunity to work with a community-based group in Salinas called Centro Cunyabe and with them, since we worked on a radio program, I had that experience thanks to Bomba which took me to the Cunyabe Cultural Center and there I was introduced to that opportunity, I mean, many paths have been opened for me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s good.

Ivette Negrón

And I have met a lot of people, very talented people, and it is cool, Bomba is an open door.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, that’s good. And when you participate in Bomba, there are different contexts, presentations, groups, bombazos, but what clothing or what accessories do you usually wear?

Ivette Negrón

Well, if I go to a Bombazo, I dress casually with whatever I feel like wearing at that moment. Now when it’s a presentation, then the group discusses how we’re going to present ourselves, where it’s going to be, and then, I have some dresses that I made, I prepared myself that I sewed myself. And then, I will dress myself depending on the event, but when it is with the group and it is like for an audience, well then there, well I don’t go so casual, I try to dress a little, a dress that looks more striking.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and when you are casual, in bombazos and contexts that are not presentations. Do you have a skirt or is it literally whatever you have on?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I usually wear a skirt, but since I am in this process of learning to dance, how to dance in the west and in the south, where the skirt is not used as much, well, I am starting to challenge myself to go out dancing without a skirt, but yes regularly, I go with my skirt and I go with a maraca and Cuá also in my bag.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

How awesome, and you said that you make your own costumes when you come to these presentations, what materials do you usually use, are they specific fabrics, specific colors?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I try to look for soft fabrics, more or less like cotton, that are not hot, that are not very thick, because I made the mistake one day of making a skirt with a very nice but thick fabric, and when I went to use it, it was a lot of work, but you learn, right. And, more or less I look and this fabric seems good to me and this one seems to me that I don’t know, that it doesn’t stretch, that it’s not cottonil, that it looks prettier, that it’s easier to iron also because sometimes those suits they are so big that one would spend a lot of work ironing. And more or less I go looking for what I like.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And in the presentations, is that style more like the folkloric one, which is known as the traditional one that has a long neck, or is it different?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I have some dresses that are from Puerto Rican flags, I have the, the original colors of the flag and I have the flag of, of mourning, well that suit is the same and it looks like the, the, what is considered traditional, right, what’s more, it has long sleeves, it has a little ruffle at the waist, but I have another dress that I made that is basically a romper or it’s a suit and then the skirt is separate. And then sometimes I wear a headwrap, sometimes I don’t, it all depends on how I feel at that moment.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are there any styles or clothing or accessories that you don’t use for some reason?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I’m not a big headwrap person, I’ve worn them, but no, I’m not known for wearing a lot of headwraps, but yes, but I don’t think so, I wear my necklaces, I wear my clothes, my accessories…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you said that you make your own dresses, are all your dresses made by you or do other seamstresses make them, do you buy them?

Ivette Negrón

Yes, well, the first set I made, well no, I got it made by someone else. Then for the second one, I said, I’m going to dare to do it and then, well, sewing, I’ve always said that it challenges my patience, because you have to have a lot of patience to sew, so you have to cut well, because if you don’t cut well, you damage the fabric, you lose it. And it has been quite challenging, I’ve had to go to YouTube channels to see how certain things are sewn, how to cut, rather it is the question of cutting the fabric, how to make the patterns. It has been challenging, a little difficult, ask people who know how to sew, how do you do such a thing? and they tell me. And then it is good, but you have to dedicate yourself to it, it is something that you have to do calmly, that is, you cannot sew in a hurry, just as when you are going to cut the fabric it has to be done calmly because if you cut wrong everything will happen to you. It’s going to look bad and that fabric is lost, so…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And why make them yourself or have them made instead of buying them at a store, buying them online, I mean, is there some reason why you, you make them yourself or have them made?

Ivette Negrón

Well, there are people who are dedicated to making skirts and they have them for sale, but I kind of feel like making my own dresses, it’s like… well, that’s what I feel, I desire to do and then I do it. (See Figure 1)

 

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And if you know how to do it, the better.

Ivette Negrón

Yes, maybe if I found someone, I trust who I could ask, “I want a dress like this,” and I know that they are going to make it to my liking, well maybe, right, I would consider it, but as long as I can do it, I do it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Exactly, of course. And how many Bomba costumes do you have?

Ivette Negrón

Let me see, let me count… I think I have like 5 or 6, like 5 or 6, I have, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and do you use them, are those the ones you use for presentations or do you also use them for other things?

Ivette Negrón

No, for presentations, when it is necessary for one to wear clothes that are, like, more striking, as I told you, yes for a stage or something like that, but if it is a private activity, a wedding, a birthday, I don’t wear them, I have another one, I have skirts, that’s why I have my skirts.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and when you put on your outfit, whether it’s for presentations or just the skirt, how do you feel?

Ivette Negrón

It’s cool, cool, especially when you’re going to present to an audience. Even after so many years it still gives me a bit of shock, it makes me a bit nervous, because you feel, you feel, it is a very pleasant, very beautiful feeling, but as I had told you, well, I have been learning that when you are before an audience, that is a responsibility, right, because you are transmitting our very own knowledge, right, ancestral knowledge and you have to do it with, you have to enjoy it, but there also has to be respect and demonstrate that you have certain knowledge, right I mean, for me that is important, it is not dancing for the sake of dancing, it is that when you dance and you present yourself it is seen as if you are a person who has a certain knowledge, right, of what you are doing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And when you move or dance in your clothes, do you feel something different from that pride, from that responsibility, or is it the same?

Ivette Negrón

I didn’t understand that question.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Like when you’re dancing and really wearing that outfit in the rhythms that use the skirt…

Ivette Negrón

Yes, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you feel that pride, do you feel something else?

Ivette Negrón

Oh well, of course, you feel, it’s that if you let yourself go, if you, if you wait for the music to call you, for the drum to call you and you go out to dance, you feel very cool, it’s a joy, you know, you are there pleasing the spirit, you understand? Now, of course, it is not the same when I go out to dance, being in the group, in the presentation, than when I am in a bombazo, because in the bombazo, I go out to dance whenever I want. I let myself be carried away by what I feel. When I am in the group and my function there is to dance, I mean, I enjoy it, I enjoy it, but sometimes not, how can I say, it is not the same, that is, it is not the same because I already know what the boys are going to sing, what they are going to play and at that moment I go out and dance and I enjoy it at all and I have a good time and I tried to project myself, like, how it should be, but there is, there is, there is a small difference.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and what importance do you give to clothing?

Ivette Negrón

Well, when it is a presentation, for me the clothing is very important, because I think it is important that the Bomba is represented well, right. Of course, the important thing is the execution, right, that you play well, that you sing well, that you dance well, that is important, because that is the essence for me, but if you add a touch of clothing that is appropriate, elegant, of good taste, that is, you don’t have to stay traditional, but you wear nice clothes and fix yourself up and you look good and you can put on some African accessories, well I think that is very important in how you want to present this genre, really.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And to an audience specifically.

Ivette Negrón

Of course, of course.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Of all the Bomba styles there are, be it the traditional one, what is seen right now on social networks, on the street, do you think there are some that are authentic than others?

Ivette Negrón

Do you mean the, the, the rhythms, the dance?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, I mean the costumes, the dress styles.

Ivette Negrón

Oh about the clothing. For me, for me they are all authentic, right, there are some, a costume that is considered traditional, which is what is already known and what you expect in folkloric groups, but for me they are all authentic because well the clothing has evolved, just as the way it is played, how it is sung, how it is danced, has evolved, and authenticity comes from the person, right. That feeling, that touch of yours in that, in that, in those clothes, in those clothes, right, so for me it is authentic.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yeah, no matter where you have it, what material, it is the person who adds to its authenticity.

Ivette Negrón

Yes, it adds that touch.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you think that the context in which you wear the clothing influences how you feel, whether it’s a performance, a bombazo, on March 8, do you feel different when you’re dancing in that, in those contexts?

Ivette Negrón

Well, when I am in, with the barrels… one is already there in a matter of protest, right, although we are all with, we are all Bomberas, but it is not like we are here hanging out, having a good time, we are going to sing and to dance, it’s a matter of, look, we want to preserve our right, to raise our voices through Bomba, right. And so there we don’t have traditional clothing, yes the skirt is worn, but no traditional clothing as such, we don’t have it. We do have our t-shirts, but the way we are executing the Bomba for me has a very special meaning because it has, it has a purpose, to point out. There are these problems and we want to raise our voice. When I’m with the group, it’s different because then we’re here, we’re going to have a good time, we want them to hear our songs, to hear our music, to know our, our music and, well, it’s different there, like I feel that little difference.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it’s another, another purpose for which you are presenting and that affects how you feel when moving. And of all this information that you know, this knowledge that you have about Bomba, the history of the Bomba, the clothing, from who or where did you acquire it?

Ivette Negrón

Well, the knowledge has been over time, right, talking, asking people who know, I have gone to conferences, I have gone to workshops. Some things I’ve read…and that’s how I’ve been learning.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

So, it’s from people, not necessarily from a class.

Ivette Negrón

Yes, there is, there is a lot of oral history, but there are people who have had the opportunity to live, the time when bomba dancing was performed, who are already very old people and well, more or less they tell you about their experiences, such as, for example, before, the women, well, they simply raised their skirts a little so that you could see the petticoats with the little bows, right, because now, raising the skirt up to here, that didn’t work, that was a delicacy here. Well, those are little things that people that I have had the opportunity to talk to have told me, me, me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, sometimes those people who have so much experience over so many years are better than a book.

Ivette Negrón

Yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And does your experience with Bomba clothing influence how you feel about your identity as a Puerto Rican?

Ivette Negrón

Well, I’m going to feel Puerto Rican anyway, but when I put on the costumes, especially the ones with the flag… well, that has a lot of meaning for me (See Figure 2). Yes, but when I put on my, my clothes, my dresses, well, I feel happy, because it’s like the clothes that I made for myself and when people tell me, “I like it,” well that’s cool, but yes, yes, you feel a little, the feeling is different, it changes a little, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you said that when you wear the flag skirt, how does it influence you a little more. Why is that?

Ivette Negrón

Well, it’s a responsibility, you’re carrying your flag, do you understand? Especially when I put on the mourning flag, which is already a protest flag.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s it, forgive me, that’s the one that’s black…

Ivette Negrón

Black and white aha…there are people, well, they don’t understand why, what is the purpose of that flag…for mourning, but it does change the feeling a little.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, because you are literally representing Puerto Rico.

Ivette Negrón

Yes, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And, do your different identities influence how you feel about Bomba? As a Puerto Rican, as a woman, as a Bombera, another identity that you have…

Ivette Negrón

Can you repeat the question?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, do your different identities influence how you feel about Bomba or its dress?

Ivette Negrón

What if they influence? Well, I think, I think so, in the sense that, in terms of Bomba’s fashion, it is always expected, I mean, it is the woman who wears the skirt, which is something very characteristic of Bomba. And it has happened to me that there are people who tell me, “Ivette, but you didn’t wear the traditional costume,” because there are women who dance without a skirt, so you have to explain to them that you don’t necessarily have to dance with a skirt, you don’t necessarily have to have the traditional costume. And then in terms of clothing, well yes, I, I believe that there is a responsibility that falls on more, on us women. The man, well, he wears a clothing, well, his pants, his shirt are more practical, there are some colors that distinguish them, but yes, I believe that in the matter of the Bomba, fashion falls a lot on us women. The headwrap, the skirt, the dress, the accessories…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Even the accessories and shoes. And does your participation in Bomba and your use of clothing influence your daily style?

Ivette Negrón

Well look, I really don’t know, I don’t know.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

In other words, the things that you wear every day, sometimes you say, “ah, I’m going to put on a headwrap today, even if I’m not going to practice, or I’m going to put on a shirt that I wear…”

Ivette Negrón

Ah well, I’m not much of a headwrap person as I told you, but I do like accessories, I like bracelets on my arms, I can wear a blouse that might be a little African…accessories yes, yes, that’s a given a lot in the Bomba. You see many women with headwraps, with their accessories, with their clothes and many men who wear African shirts, that is seen a lot daily in the Bomba environment.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, those were all my questions before we finish, would you like to share anything else?

Ivette Negrón

Well, no, well, thank you. It has been a cool experience this interview, I hope you and yours like it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thank you.

Ivette Negrón

Well, much success with your project.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thanks, thank you!