Jamie Perez English Transcription

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Today is June 25, 2023, my name is Amanda Ortiz and for my research project titled, “Puerto Rican Bomba Fashions: Consumption, Peformance and Meaning-Making,” I will be interviewing Jamie Pérez, founder, teacher, and director of Estudio 353 Casa Cultural in Mayagüez. Thank you for being here Jamie, I really appreciate your willingness. The purpose of this study is to collect and document information from Puerto Rican firefighters about their experiences with the Bomba and the Bomba dress to understand the deeper meanings and uses of the Bomba folkloric dress in the context of identity, space, and location. We will start with some questions about your demographic data, how old are you?

Jamie Pérez

45.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Where do you live?

Jamie Pérez

in Mayagüez

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Have you always lived there?

Jamie Pérez

Born and raised Mayagüez

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What do you do for a living?

Jamie Pérez

I currently work in the cooperative of the Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico, providing Finance services and here in the 353 studio doing my classes and conversations and everything that has to do with the Bomba genre.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

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

Jamie Pérez

Bachelor’s degree in education at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

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

Jamie Pérez

Jaime, her.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

How would you describe your sexuality?

Jamie Pérez

Normal…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are you in a romantic relationship?

Jamie Pérez

Yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have any children?

Jamie Pérez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Can you tell me about your family, the dynamics, are they, are they, for example, are they close, are they big?

Jamie Perez

We are a small family, right, and we are all diverse, but very kind.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And are they all here from Mayagüez?

Jamie Perez

Yes, almost all of us are from Mayaguez.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay. Do you have any physical disabilities?

Jamie Pérez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Could you share your household income right away?

Jamie Perez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have any religious or spiritual affiliation?

Jamie Perez

Not religious, spiritual with myself.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Ok, well thanks for sharing. Now let’s, I’m going to be asking you some questions about your Puerto Rican identity. What does it mean for you to be Puerto Rican?

Jamie Perez

Being Puerto Rican means being very clear about what defines me as a Puerto Rican, as a jibara, as a farmer, as a woman, as a worker. The best thing is to be Puerto Rican…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Has there been a time where you have felt more or less secure about your Puerto Rican identity?

Jamie Perez

I have felt good at all times, I mean I have not had a negative experience, and positive ones since we always try to highlight what we are everywhere we are, both on the island and outside, so I have not had any setbacks, so I have done well.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you talked a little about that, but what other elements or what characteristics connect you to your identity as Puerto Rican?

Jamie Perez

Basically I am very earth-oriented and when you love the land where you were born, that is enough to feel, right, with that strength, to hold on to the Puerto Rican identity, so…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, now let’s talk a little about Bomba itself. What does the Bomba mean to you?

Jamie Perez

Bomba can have a lot of meanings, but for me it is like everything I do through it and for so many years it is like a ceremony to connect with our ancestry and our own spirituality.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And are you currently active in your participation?

Jamie Pérez

Yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What roles do you occupy at Bomba?

Jamie Perez

Well, as an educator and cultural manager, I offer classes for all the elements of Bomba, singing, composition, percussion and dance as such, in our Mayagüez style. Now as a participant within the genre, I am a singer, singer-songwriter. I am a player, official dancer, right, and the last role I have mastered is that of subidor.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Subidora is on the drum?

Jamie Perez

It is in the drum, the person who connects with the dancer to accompany them in their manifesto when dancing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

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

Jamie Pérez

In Bomba as such, I remember that in my childhood grades in, in elementary school, there was always one or another teacher who instilled in us, right, the value of, of our music, but it was temporary, it was among all the genres and more, they focused more on peasant music as such. In university degrees, then, I began to connect with, with a little bit, right, briefly about the genres as such, but it was not until I was more adult that I knew the drum as such, when I saw a participation by Félix Alduen’s group and his drums in the Mayagüez shopping center, I see them like, super random right, on a visit to the center. I heard drums and my ear took me to where the drums were when I saw the image of what in my opinion was the Puerto Rican Bomba played by a group of gentlemen. There I became interested in learning a little more about that genre, but luckily I was able to meet one of the members. And when I interviewed him, he told me at that moment, well, that the group played in few places, right, their appearance was very little, but that the group was also male, that is, there was no… open female participation, but when he had the opportunity to learn something, he was going to invite me. Years go by and then that’s where, at my friend’s baby shower, I ask her because they were related to the young woman, I knew there was a connection through the drum, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to see them, and at my friend’s baby shower, I asked if by chance, as part of the activity, they were going to be playing drums, they told me no. When I decide to withdraw from the activity, I begin to see they are taking up drums to the stage, then it was like I’m not leaving, I have to see what is happening here, I have to connect with this and luckily for me that night, part of the Yaguembe group was in the activity, Yaguembe from Mayagüez and part of the Majestad Negra group from Loíza, who were also friends of the family of both families, because they played normal, no, not an artistic presentation, but a sharing through the drum there and well, they gave me a skirt, I moved, what I understood was that I had to move according to the impulse that the drumbeat gave me, right, and that’s where Alberto Galarza Ramos introduced me to Don Ramón “Papo” Alers and tells him my interest in knowing the Bomba genre. And there Don Ramón Papo Alers invited me to his group and it was like a hallelujah, right of, of, of, of the emotion I felt at that moment. So, after that, obviously all my recreational activities focused on dance, because at that time I was participating with a folkloric ballet in the municipality of San Germán and with a group that was starting through tango in Isabela, well I had to separate, I mean sacrifice that, those two movements to focus fully, then on knowing, on learning, on starting to learn the genre of the Mayagüezan Bomba and since then I have stayed there until today.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I love that you liked it and looked for people to, to get involved, and nowadays, how often do you participate in the Bomba?

Jamie Perez

At all times, that is, whenever I have the opportunity, right, because more and more, the commitments are strong, but whenever I have the opportunity, I participate, either as a spectator or as a person who has been hired to, to carry some show.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you usually participate in artistic presentations, in your classes, are there other contexts where you dance?

Jamie Perez

For example, today or for some time now we celebrate these Bomba gatherings that are open to the public, right, they are simply some members of some x, y group that call for a certain activity in the square or in a specific place. Well, there I arrive as a spectator, but I integrate myself into the functions that are needed at the moment, also to share with the audience present, the people who arrive.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay, and then you are from the Mayagüez Bomba region. Does that have a name, a specific name or is it the Mayagüez region?

Jamie Perez

Practically when referring to the Bomba, they say Bomba de Mayagüez, but in these times the Bomba has had a resurgence and there are already many municipalities around, from the west and southwest and northwest, well it already has niches, right, where bomba is also practiced, so then we expand it, when we are going to talk in general, well, it is the western region, the Bomba of the western region, but Mayagüez always sneaks in, it is like, it is the, the stamp, right, of which the Bomba is from Mayagüez.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you have a rhythm, since Bomba has many rhythms, that you identify with or that you like to dance more than others?

Jamie Pérez

Well, look, when I started at the beginning, the Holandes rhythm fascinated me, I say it still fascinates me because they all fascinate me, but it has been like, right, for different periods. Then the grace of the Sica with it, the Gracímá that we know here in Mayagüez, very similar to what the Cuembe is and finally the Yuba that is so strong, so intense because, that is the one that has been capturing me a little more lately, it seems that I identify myself more and as a composer, well it also helps me if I have to express something through singing, well then I use the Yuba to carry a message, to write my lyrics.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what have you gained through your experience with the Bomba? Whether emotionally, socially…

Jamie Pérez

Happiness, fulfillment, freedom, love, a lot of love, and a lot of spirituality I have gained. It has been, I would tell you that when you start you feel the first emotion, and you want to take on the world with, with what you are feeling, but as time goes by you are already an integral part of the movement and you are getting to know more things, more stories, more feelings, more emotions, well now you, what you felt already, is already transforming, right. So now you are looking for why Bomba causes so many wonderful things in human beings. So there, under the experiences that one may have oneself, plus those that are shared with the collective, you are looking for the exact definition of what Bomba implies. And that, well, we are still in development, in knowledge, in learning, in going deeper into what this is, which is no longer merely music to entertain, I mean, I don’t see it that way, like it was in my beginnings, right, like that, to entertain myself, to free myself, to have a good time, no, now this has a meaning, an immense depth and the more we immerse ourselves in it, understanding it, the greater the respect.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Wow, beautiful. Thank you for, for, for that in response. We are going to talk about the Bomba’s clothing, obviously focusing on your experiences, but you can also share any other information. When participating in Bomba today, what are the clothing or accessories that you usually use?

Jamie Pérez

Today, the way I am dressed, for example, this afternoon today, with this same outfit I can do anything through Bomba. In my beginnings, as I started with, with the Yaguembe group, which was already a group that was going to present the Bomba in a folkloric way, we had to go with dresses completely designed, very elaborate, very large and spacious, with gigantic petticoats, gigantic skirts with their, what’s the name? the apron, very elaborate blouses with sleeves well colonized in long sleeves, high collars with turbans on all our faces, garments together, well made, well, it was something, it was like a completely decorated cake, but obviously I entered in the years 2000s, I entered with a folklore group, well that is my beginning, but when at that same time we want to transfer this folklore into something more accessible to the community, well, to achieve that, we had to have a normal wardrobe because we are not going to be around there, right, with those costumes all the time because it is not going to be attractive to the community and the new generations, so we had to look for the alternative of how to transfer the knowledge acquired through the Yaguembe group, but in a way more tempered with new times and new societies to capture that youth and make them fall in love with what the Bomba genre was and today you can see this in a more freedom, freer way, I mean, super comfortable clothes, nothing that is as, that I don’t have to say, “you have to dress like this or that,” no because, if we are going to participate as a collective in some activity, I say, “look, we are going to have this color palette and you dress with that color palette” as you want taking into consideration some labels, right, if it is casual, if it is formal casual or whatever, but the person dresses how they feel comfortable, right, and we participate in a more, freer way and fresher, more tempered to our time, but we continue to carry the same genre and the same respect towards it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And is there ever a piece of clothing or an accessory that, it doesn’t have to be from what is known as folkloric performance clothing, is there a shoe, a piece of clothing that you use a lot when you dance or say I need to have this to dance?

Jamie Perez

No, no, not at the moment.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And when you dance in performances like that, where do you get your clothes from? Where do you buy it, where do you get it?

Jamie Pérez

Like currently, well in our format it is a little more free, right, updated and contemporary than, as I tell you, if we are going to be governed by some color, well, according to what is in season in matter of fashions and trends, try to go with that approach. If the activity has some theme, right, somewhere a little more, I don’t know, maybe a peasant festival, but they are, they are also involving the genre of the Bomba and they establish a dress code, then one is tied to that, right, to complement, but if there are no dress codes, then a color palette and we go with what everyone feels comfortable with.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And for you, personally, just to confirm, do you feel more comfortable wearing what calls to you and what is most comfortable for you when you dance?

Jamie Pérez

Exactly, exactly, always because we are generally used to seeing women dancing with a skirt, but in the case of us from Mayagüez, although we can use the skirt, the skirt is not an accessory that, we have to say that It is mandatory. We can, for example, right now with this dress that is not a skirt, it is something complete, I can dance lifting it because our marking is basically with all the movements of the foot, so what I do is with whatever I have, well, show my feet so that the drummer can answer, but yes… generally, I like to dance more with pants, you know I usually go out in pants, well if I’m in pants then I dance in pants.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you prefer to dance in pants?

Jamie Pérez

Oh yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

¿And why?

Jamie Pérez

It’s more comfortable, it’s more comfortable, for me it’s much more comfortable. I like this style, right. If I have this type of clothing, well, it is also easier for me, but feel the obligation that I have to wear a skirt that is known today, right, of Bomba, which is this typical completely wide one with its ruffles, well, it’s a little more complex for me because our habit is to mark the feet and having so much fabric to lift, well then it’s like I, or I focus on the fabric, on the dress above or the feet. So to look good with so much fabric, well, then I rather use clothing items that help me show my feet.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you think what you wear affects how you feel when dancing?

Jamie Pérez

No, because when the drum calls, if the drum truly calls you, it doesn’t matter how you are dressed, you are going to respond to that call. And the expression of the body is going to be tied to that emotion, so no, there doesn’t have to be a skirt, there doesn’t have to be a, a, some costumes that represent something because what you are looking for is what connects the drum with your heart, with your conscience, not with what you have on.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And from the different styles, it seems that, right, what you are saying is that, it doesn’t matter what you have on, what matters is the dance and how you feel, your body, the dynamics. But of all the styles that exist today, whether people wear skirts over pants, pants alone, the traditional, Walmart sells Bomba skirts, for you is there any level of authenticity, does something take away from the authenticity of what the dress is? How do you feel about that, style and authenticity?

Jamie Pérez

Well, at a regional level in all the representations of Bomba and how the woman manages her style and if within her style, well, there is the use of the wide skirt, I think it is great because it is how they have learned it, how they have developed it and obviously the dominance they may have when they are in front of the drum, with that, with that, that, right, that outfit is phenomenal, but when I, as a Mayagüezana, I want to represent what is mine, what belongs to me, which is the same genre throughout the island, but at the same time it is different, well I have to be tied to what I learned, how I should handle it because that way I feel more comfortable, because that way I feel more connected to, with the ancestry that the Bomba genre carries here in Mayagüez. So no, I don’t know if, if I have to use it, I’m going to use it, if I don’t have to use it, then much better for me because it’s more control I can have of, of my style.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And based on your knowledge and your experience, there will be a reason why like you said and you may correct…

Jamie Perez

Correct.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Correct me, if I’m wrong, that the skirt is not necessarily as important when dancing as in other places, as other people give a lot of importance to the skirt because they say that it is an extension of the body and whatever, is there a reason why which in this region that importance, which is not bad, right, is not as strong as in the other regions?

Jamie Pérez

Me, well, we as the region furthest from the capital, right, we are probably tied to the simplicity of the Bomba genre, to our roots, to what we have known. Obviously, I do not know the history of the, of the origin of Bomba, I mean, it is impossible for us to know that because we do not have great and vast documentation on those origins as such, but we, at least in Mayagüez, are tied to what which is more typical of our region. The use of the skirt does not seem bad to me either and is more prominent in other areas, generally the northern area, right, where we see Santurce, Loíza, well I consider that since they are closer to everything that is, this visibility, right, from the media, I understand that in order for it to come out of the niches and be visible, it has to be visible through costumes that attract audiences. So when we move, then in the folklore of all Latin America, Hispanic America, Central America, we see colors, we see loose dress, perhaps we are grabbing a little of, of what we see in other areas, also because we are a colonized people, to look the same or, or be more or less on that same level with, with the costumes for visual effects of a television camera that indicates that what we are seeing there is a picture of Puerto Rican folklore. And perhaps, in my opinion, it could be, because by looking striking with completely elaborate costumes, it is a little more… easier through, the regions that are in the north, which have that opportunity to, of accessibility to the media, because what is seen represents what the culture of our Bomba is, but the reality is that for us in the western area, that immensity of clothing as such is not necessary.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do you think your experiences with Bomba affect how you feel about your Puerto Rican identity?

Jamie Perez

Can you repeat it for me?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, do you think your experiences with Bomba affect how you feel about your Puerto Rican identity?

Jamie Pérez

No, on the contrary. On the contrary, it is something that, that, that nourishes much more and enriches being Boricua much more, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you think your different identities affect how you feel about the Bomba?

Jamie Pérez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And, right, you, you interact with a lot of people, obviously you teach, in your presentations, what kind of information have you learned about Bomba’s clothing through your interactions with other people, whether it’s what they know or what they think about the clothes, if they have, like, for example, if someone goes where they say, “wow I like the skirt,” or “oh why don’t you wear the skirt? That’s something I’ve always seen…” have you had interactions like that?

Jamie Perez

Probably not, no, I haven’t had that kind of interaction. I know that obviously, as in other regions, it is fundamental, because when they see that the West does not use it with much, I mean, it is not required, perhaps it is a little shocking because they see that we should have, like, women in, in the skirt on, but generally not.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What types of messages do you think society, whether Puerto Rican society, promotes about Bomba?

Jamie Perez

La Bomba today is also promoted a lot for the fight, the fight for social consciousness and the injustices that are happening, right, I believe that the genre has been the protagonist in participating in those fighting movements and it has been seen as a tool of resistance that has been like this all our lives, right, but then in these modern times, it is being seen even more, because the youth are more trapped and they need, right, that thirst for a fight, well it’s good that it is through music, through lyrics, through a drum that can be manifested in a passive way, but with a clear and forceful message.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And finally, does your participation in Bomba and your use of its clothing as such affect your daily style?

Jamie Pérez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, those are my questions, about your experience and thanks for sharing. Now let’s go to the photos that I have here. If you also want to see it on your phone you can, I’m going to ask you a little question about it, I also can show you the pictures and then I’ll ask the questions.

Jamie Pérez

Correct, yes, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

The first photo we have. What year was that photo taken?

Jamie Perez

Oh, oh, oh, there you caught me…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

If you don’t know, that’s okay.

Jamie Perez: Yes, we were going to be performing there, they gave me the task of giving a Mayagüezano-style dance workshop. So, well, I had to prepare some images, right, for the promotion there and I used a complete red outfit, the, the blouse is a normal blouse, purchased, right, in any hand-made store, the skirt is a custom-made skirt to my measure, right, that skirt, practically, that skirt was also made for when I worked at the Bomba Municipal school in Mayagüez, where we held two recitals a year. Well, one of the recitals, if I’m not mistaken, the Christmas one, that explains the color red and the ruffle is red, but it also has its, its shine, you know, its two different fabrics and they shine, it was for the Christmas festivities that we were going to be in the Plaza de Mayagüez at the Baudilio Vega Berríos Cultural Center in Mayagüez, presenting our show to the public and that was the skirt we used for, for all of our dancers. (See Figure 1).

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And was it a seamstress?

Jamie Perez

Yes, yes, the skirt, if we are going to work with the use of the skirt, they all have to be through seamstresses, tailored to each person.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you have heels in the photo, is that just for the photo or do you dance with heels too?

Jamie Perez

Yes I danced, we danced with, with heels too.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What element or elements are meaningful to you when you see that photo?

Jamie Perez

That, for example, the transmission of, of what I want to bring into the activity, not only with what has already been worked on musically, but with the, the visual effect of when they see us hit with a vivid color, tempered to, to the Christmas season, right, in that case as such, I want, I want to represent joy, I want to represent the beauty, the coquetry of the woman with her wardrobe as well.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Let’s go next time… What year was this photo taken?

Jamie Pérez

That was about two years ago, 2022 if I’m not mistaken, that was it, that was also another photoshoot that I wanted to do to also promote the Estudio 353 space here in Mayagüez. There we can see, there I have a “jumpsuit” of pants, although you can’t see it, it is a “jumpsuit” of pants and a skirt with a velcro adjustment at the waist that allows movement, right, subtle, it has no flare and which is also the difference from a traditional skirt that you have a two or a flare at the end. In this case it is not completely plain like this costume and I also had this translucent kimono and well, obviously complete black is my favorite color, so I am almost always in black, but I wanted to represent it like this between nature and the coast, since when you see black clothing, we tend to use it for mourning, although it is an extremely elegant clothing and color. I also wanted to convey, how do you say it? that ancestral legacy, right, that joy that I received the ancestral legacy of what Bomba dance is, because there I am doing it barefoot, right, to be tied to the earth, on the coast where they were generally played, in many cases the Bomba in Mayagüez. Although it is also understood that there was Bomba in the countryside. Well, generally we always talk about Bomba of the coast, but I represent both, as if to say, a person who, who is born and raised in the countryside, comes to know the genre of the Bomba and through its history, because she wants to through her dance, honor as such all the people who were involved so that today I can have the opportunity to educate other people about this genre. (See Figure 2)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And this is here in Mayagüez?

Jamie Perez

So it’s a tribute. Yes, this is on the coast of Mayagüez, in the Litoral area.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you always think about that when, right, you were explaining about color, being barefoot for that connection. When you do these shootings or when you go dancing, do you always think about that context, how does the outfit you are wearing impact you?

Jamie Perez

Yeah.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Awesome, I love it, let’s go to the next.

Jamie Pérez

There I have more color, this one is more tempered to the new times, it is like saying a new image, to our times, with the use of a skirt that has its ruffles, which is also wide, but is totally colorful, a textile that, that represents joy also with a blue top, that shows on the top of, of, of well the bare shoulders with the cloth on one side that you can see both the hair and the adornment of, of the cloth on the head and obviously, well, dancing to the drum, although there is no one behind the drum, but it is honoring, right, that, that drum that is, is the one that gives us that beat, that calls us and, well, there I was performing a dance. (See Figure 3)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

When you move with the skirt, with ruffle and without ruffle, do you feel something different?

Jamie Perez

Depending on the textile being used, right, because if the skirt is very wide, has many yards of fabric and the textile is heavy, the mobilization is going to be challenging, so you have to emphasize, right, what the movements are so that the ruffle can be seen, right, because picking up a skirt and not knowing how to move it and making it look as if you were squeezing it is not the same as having a textile that you are intentionally moving so that it looks like the waves of the sea, control, exactly, you have to carefully verify the textile that is used… There I am completely in White. It is said that, in Mayagüez, clothing as such from quite ancient times, the clothing or colors that were there were these whites or pale creams, colors, very, very, very clear, so well there I wanted to represent a little that was, the outfit focused more on the color because the, the blouse also shows the shoulders and probably there is also an element there of what is plena. The plena costumes, which were a little more open to the shoulder area, but the skirt is from Bomba, understand that it is from Bomba, that it is the long skirt with a simple ruffle, there you see that it has a ruffle, but it is a curly ruffle, it is a long and quite straight ruffle. (See Figure 4)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And, what material, do you know what material it is made of?

Jamie Perez

That is cotton, that costume is also made to order, to measure…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And the accesories?

Jamie Pérez

Complete. The garments are acquired from a store as such that I wanted to combine so, if I have white, then have a little color through my garments.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I think you had also sent me another one too.

Jamie Pérez

That costume there, as you can see, is a simple, ethnic costume, if you can say, right, it is an ethnic costume. That was in the participation of the Mayagüezan group Raíz Bomba in the International Jazz Festival in New Orleans this last year, in May of this year we were there representing the Bomba in New Orleans with Mayagüez and in that participation as such, as you can see my partner, she wore the white skirt. I decided not to wear a skirt because I wanted the costumes to show off, right, the immensity of, of, of the costume design, dancing barefoot so I could then control. There I have my arms raised, but generally there in the dance, I would pinch any lower part and raise it and then mark my steps in, in Bomba, that is, as you can see, it is a costume that we can use in our daily life, in our activities. everyday, but when dancing it is better, let yourself go with what your heart tells you and do the markings and the dance, with respect and in response to what you are feeling, without the need to have other implements that, that you have to kind of have to move here, but surely this way or that way. So it’s one of the most comfortable ways that I can represent my dance. (See Figure 5)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, those were my questions, that’s the photo section. Thank you for sharing your experience, your knowledge and before closing, would you like to say anything else?

Jamie Perez

I don’t know, I’m grateful to you for coming here to meet us here in Mayagüez, that you would taken the trip… to also congratulate you for, for looking for this other space, right, through education, about how to bring a message of that which is ours through the textiles and the clothing, which is very important, so I hope that you can complete it with all the interviews that remain and that you can get a lot, a lot of learning from that and tell you that we are at your command here, right, for whatever you need, we coordinate any workshop or anything else you need, we are willing to collaborate with you.