Bomba, danza, calipso y merengue: Creación del espacio social en las fiestas de Santiago Apóstol de Loíza

Every year the people of Loiza reaffirm their religious devotion and Afro–Puerto Rican identity during the Fiesta de Santiago Apostol (Feast of St. James). The celebration culminates in Carnavalesque processions in which masked characters and devotees parade the image of the saint to bomba, calypso, merengue, and calypso music. As with many folk Catholic rituals, devotion to Santiago (St. James) is expressed through both the religious and profane, which often makes it hard to distinguish one from the other. This article demonstrates the active role that music plays in the formation of public spaces where the juxtaposition of the religious and profane creates a framework for the performance of the fiesta.