A Seattle-based Caribbean dance and music group, Grupo Bayano was founded in 1984 by Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Honduran, Colombian, and Panamanian young women who were very committed to the values of collaboration, cultural expression, community building, and unity. Grupo Bayano was named after a Maroon Community in what is now Panamá that won autonomy from colonial Spain in 1570 due to the unity forged among African and Indigenous Peoples. Grupo Bayano is currently focusing on the history, song, percussion, and dance of Bomba from Puerto Rico. Hijos de Aguebana is a Puerto Rican group with over ten years experience both of performing and offering workshops and courses on the historical and cultural significance of the genre of bomba.
