EP #109 From Cultural Shock To Cultural Seed: How Semilla Cultural Builds Community Through Puerto Rican Bomba

What if movement could speak first and the music answered back? That’s the electric core of Bomba, the Afro‑Puerto Rican tradition that turns emotion into sound through a live dialogue between dancer and drummer. We sit down with Semilla Cultural’s founder, Isha Renta Lopez, to trace how a scientist from Puerto Rico rebuilt community in Virginia—one packed basement workshop, one class, and one drumbeat at a time.

Isha shares the journey from Howard University’s meteorology labs to leading a 12‑year nonprofit rooted in cultural education, performance, and lectures across Fredericksburg and Northern Virginia. You’ll step inside a Bomba class: hand drums and maraca, call‑and‑response singing, rhythms with distinct steps, and the startling moment when the drummer follows the dancer’s improvisation. We explore Bomba’s 300‑year history, its origins among enslaved Africans in Puerto Rico, and the way each rhythm carries a specific feeling—joyous, grounded, or fierce. It’s a workout, a lesson, and therapy wrapped into one loud, welcoming circle.

The conversation also spotlights Isha’s children’s book, Sophia And Her Bomba Drum. Sparked by a simple comment—“just a girl and her drum”—the story gives kids an entry point into tradition while pushing past limiting expectations about who gets to drum. Set against landmarks like Ponce’s Parque de Bombas, the book connects heritage, place, and courage, and now lives online, at events, and in local libraries. Along the way you’ll hear how students find confidence, release stress, and discover belonging through Bomba’s live, improvisational energy.

Curious to feel it for yourself? Classes run monthly in Fredericksburg and Maryland, with schedules on Semilla Cultural’s website and plenty of room for first‑timers. If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find their rhythm with us.

Isha Renta Lopez

Semilla Cultural

semillacultural.org

[email protected]

+1 540-693-0024

Follow on IG: @semillacultural and @isharenta

Richmond, VA · Fredericksburg, VA · Washington D.C., DC