Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles
Guardians and transmitters of the Bomba and Plena in Puerto Rico
Modesto Cepeda Brenes, founder of the Instituto Folklorico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda AtilesFlamboyan Arts Fund
The Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño (IFP) Rafael Cepeda Atiles is one of the main guardians and transmitters of the folkloric music and dance traditions of Puerto Rico.
It was the first Bomba and Plena school in Puerto Rico, and it was created in 1973 by Modesto Cepeda Brenes.
Its mission has been to promote and disseminate the Bomba and Plena, two of the most important folkloric traditions of dance, drum and song of the Afroboricua cultural heritage.
During all these years, Cepeda Brenes has built this organization to continue cultivating on the seed sown long before by the Cepeda Family, who, more than a cultural clan, are an authentic Puerto Rican institution. For decades, they have been committed advocates and interpreters of Bomba and Plena. And they have not only led the efforts to preserve and disseminate these genres through documentation and interpretation, but also through their dedication as teachers who have trained new generations of performers.
Modesto Cepeda Brenes
Born in 1938, Modesto is the second of the ten children of the legendary teachers Don Rafael Cepeda Atiles (1910-1997) and Doña Caridad Brenes Caballero (1914-1996), all of whom have devoted themselves to keeping these expressions of folklore alive and current.
From his parents, the folklorist learned lessons on life and art that he continues to honor and make known today through two important organizations under the umbrella of IFP: the Escuela de Bomba y Plena, located in the Playita community of the Villa Palmeras sector of Santurce, and the Cimiento de Puerto Rico company.
Bomba dance class at the home of the Instituto Folklorico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda AtilesFlamboyan Arts Fund
From a very young age, Modesto was educated by his parents in the art of dancing and singing the bomba and plena, and also taught to play the traditional drums of these genres, such as the Bomba “barril”.
At the age of six he was already part of the ABC Group, headed by his parents.
He also went on to work as a musician, performing with other musical groups and recording as a singer with the orchestra of the legendary Rafael Cortijo.
Prior to assuming the role of director of the School of Bomba and Plena, Modesto Cepeda participated in several renowned groups including Trapiche, where he played the Bomba barriles and other traditional instruments; and Grupo Canario, funded by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
The Instituto Folklorico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles, first Bomba and Plena school in Puerto RicoFlamboyan Arts Fund
He participated in the play "Vejigantes", a major work by one of Puerto Rico’s most important playwrights, Francisco Arriví.
Modesto has also produced several Bomba recordings: “Encuentro de Bomba y Plena” (1992), “Raíces de Bomba y Plena”(1995), “Legado de Bomba y Plena” (1997), and “Antología” (2000).
The Escuela de Bomba y Plena Rafael Cepeda Atiles is a family effort that he has led together with his wife Enriqueta “Ketty” Culta (RIP), and his daughters, Gladys Cámara and Brenda Cepeda.
Bomba dance class at the home of the Instituto Folklorico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda AtilesFlamboyan Arts Fund
As the first Bomba and Plena school founded in Puerto Rico, it has made countless and significant achievements during its more than 25 years of existence, teaching young people to dance these rhythms in their purest form...
Percussion and bomba "barriles" workshopFlamboyan Arts Fund
...as well as to deeply know and love the legacy of their great exponents.
The school offers children, youths, adults and families different music, dance and percussion workshops on Puerto Rican folklore, arts and culture.
The bomba and plena music and dance workshops have traditionally been offered at the school’s permanent site at Calle Union #71 in Villa Palmeras, a neighborhood that has been both birthplace and enclave of many great Puerto Rican artists, singers and cultural icons like the Cepeda’s. A new location for the school was inaugurated in 2011 on Rafael Cepeda Street in Santurce.
2017 NEA National Heritage Fellow
In 2017, he received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, performing on September 15, 2017 in the concert-ceremony at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC.
For his sociocultural, humanistic and educational work, Modesto Cepeda has been the object of innumerable recognitions such as the two honorary doctoral degrees awarded, respectively, by the Carlos Albizu University, in 2006, and the Ana G. Méndez University, Cupey Campus, in 2012. In addition, in 2017, he received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, performing on September 15, 2017 in the concert-ceremony at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. This significant recognition had a very special meaning for him, since with it he was following once again the steps of his beloved father, the great don Rafael Cepeda, who had been honored with the same NEA award in 1983.
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