About La Escuelita

La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón, founded in November 2009 by Ivelisse “Bombera de Corazón” Díaz, is an Afro-Puerto Rican diasporic performing arts school rooted in the tradition of Bomba. La Escuelita offers a comprehensive curriculum of basic, intermediate, and advanced courses, all grounded in Bomba’s rhythmic structure and cultural context.

Located in the historic Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park in Chicago, and extending its reach globally through virtual programming, La Escuelita serves as a vital educational and cultural hub. Students are offered access to master bomberxs, historians, composers, families, instrument artisans, and cultural leaders.

La Escuelita offers semester based in-person and virtual classes for youth and adults, professional development workshops, cultural exchanges, community lectures, school residencies, performances, and special events. Our programming includes Bomba Kids, intensive courses, intergenerational Bombazos, and cultural celebrations. These activations center intergenerational learning and prioritize accessibility, cultural continuity, and community in practice.

Led by a collective of experienced practitioners, La Escuelita cultivates discipline, creativity, and community leadership while deepening connections between Chicago and Puerto Rico. La Escuelita’s mission is not only to teach Bomba but to honor and uplift the communities and elders who have sustained it. With a pedagogy rooted in Black and Brown liberation, cultural resilience, and social justice, La Escuelita transforms in-person and virtual classrooms into bateyes of embodied learning, healing, and collective memory.