Bulla en el Barrio is an effort to open a space in New York City to explore at a deeper level the bullerengue tradition born in Colombia in the Urabá and Caribbean region of the country. From its early days, bullerengue has been a tool for women to express themselves through music and dance; for this reason, women’s leadership and their power to engage communities into creative processes characterize bullerengue. This is why Bulla en el Barrio also aims to unite communities and encourage them to generate a spontaneous celebration of life through music, dance and the stories that these songs tell.
Bulla en el Barrio started in October 2014 and is currently comprised by fourteen people who have been consistently meeting to learn and practice Bullerengue. Our hope is to continue creating a fraternal and cultural bond with all the communities where we perform. As of today, the group has performed publicly at Encuentro NYC Colombian Music Festival 2015 (Manhattan), Pioneer Works (Brooklyn), Corona Plaza (Queens) in collaboration with Queens Museum, Terraza 7 (Queens), Barbés (Brooklyn -Current artistic residency performing the last Monday of each month), TSION Café (Manhattan), Little Sisters LLC Organization (Manhattan), Afro-Latino 2016 (Brooklyn), Queens Museum, Museo del Barrio (Manhattan), Brooklyn Folk Featival 2016, Mi Gente in the Bronx Latin Music Festival 2016, Socrates Sculture Park Outdoor Cinema Festival (Queens) David Rubenstein Atrum at Lincoln Center (Manhattan), World Music institute Organization with Susana Baca (Brooklyn), WEPA Cumbia Roots Festival Austin, Texas 2017 and more!
In the summer of 2016, Bulla en el Barrio recorded a 7" vinyl under the label Names You Can Trust, which includes two original compositions by Carolina Oliveros (La Linda Barranquillera, Diana Herrera) and Camilo Rodríguez. These are in the rhythms of chalupa and fandango de lengua, representing two of the three rhythms and dance styles (sentao, chalupa and fandango de lengua) that make up bullerengue. This was done in order to continue our effort to preserve, educate and most importantly to continue the tradition of Bullerengue in the now.
