Plena

La Plena is a genre of music and dance native

to Puerto Rico.[1][2] La Bomba

Contents
1 Origins
2 History
3 Genre
4 Spread
5 Composers
6 See also
7 References

Origins
Dancing Bomba and Plena
The plena originated in Ponce around 1900.[3] It
was influenced by the bomba stye of music. It
was first heard in the neighborhood Barriada de
la Torre or as Jose Rosa in his World Music
Survey: The Music from Latin America and the
United States states, in the Barrio de San Anton
(in Ponce).[4] Originally, sung texts were not
associated with the plena, which was rendered
by guitar, accordion and pandero, but
eventually, in 1907, singing was added.

Plena was often called the periodico cantado or

"sung newspaper" for the lower classes because
it spread messages among people, similar to the
corridos in Mexico. The traditional center of
plena was San Antón, a barrio of Ponce.[5]

History
The plena was a result of the mixing of the
culturally diverse popular class, where their
workplace, neighborhood, and life experiences
met to create an expressive, satirical style of
music.[6] It became a way for the working class
to gain empowerment through parody. Due to

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 its lower class origins, it was regarded by the
upper class as "a menace to public order and
private property" and was for many years
associated with people of la vida alegre (the
merry life), referring to prostitutes, dancers,
alcoholics, and moral degenerates. Singing and
dancing of the plena often happened in
cafetines, bars that frequently doubled as
A (c. 1900 - 1915) Puerto
brothels and where interracial socializing and
Rican Cuatro
sexual encounters were free to take place. [7]

According to singers discussing the use of the

plena, they stated it was song with lyrics that
related to a current event. For example, if
someone drowned or was killed, a plena would
be written about it.[8] Tintorera del Mar,[9]
Mataron a Elena, El Obispo de Ponce, and
Matan a Bumbum[10] were some plenas which
became wildly popular.[11]

The eventual widespread acceptance of the

plena can be attributed to the increased number
of people joining the workforce, which led to a
new demand for public leisure. It was still
considered indecent by the upper class, who
fought against its rising popularity. In
December 1917, an ordinance was passed
banning the dances from happening inside the
city limits. It took another decade for the plena
to gain widespread popularity throughout
Puerto Rico and cross racial and cultural
boundaries. Listening to plena at home and at
neighborhood- or municipal-sanctioned
celebrations became acceptable and was no
longer considered morally tainted by
"respectable" white upper class Ponceños.
Eventually, with much whitewashing to make it
more palatable to the masses, plena was
embraced in earnest as a style of music that
united Puerto Ricans. However, with the
acceptance of the upper class, what began as
vitally important cultural identifier and personal
expression of philosophy, community, and self to
the lower class became an entertaining
spectacle for the white upper class. [7]

By the 1930s, the plena was accessible to all through the radio and record
industries.[7]

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 Genre
Plena music is generally folkloric in nature. The music's beat and rhythm are
usually played using hand drums called panderetas, also known as panderos.
The music is accompanied by a scrape gourd, the guiro. Panderetas resemble
tambourines but without the jingles. These are handheld drums with stretched
animal skins, usually goat skin, covering a round wooden frame. Three
different sizes of pandereta are used in plena: the Seguidor (the largest of the
three), the Punteador (the medium-sized drum), and the requinto. An
advantage of this percussion arrangement is its portability, contributing to the
plena's spontaneous appearance at social gatherings. Other instruments
commonly heard in plena music are the cuatro, the maracas, and
accordions.[12]

The fundamental melody of the plena, as in all regional Puerto Rican music,
has a decided Spanish strain; it is marked in the resemblance between the
plena Santa María and a song composed in the Middle Ages by Alfonso the
Wise, King of Spain. The lyrics of plena songs are usually octosyllabic and
assonant. Following the universal custom the theme touches upon all phases of
life—romance, politics, and current events. Generally, anything which appeals
to the imagination of the people, such as the arrival of a personage, a crime, a
bank moratorium, or a hurricane, can be the subject of plena music.

Spread
Plena is played throughout Puerto Rico especially during special occasions
such as the Christmas season, and as the musical backdrop for civic protests,
due to its traditional use as a vehicle for social commentary. When plena is
played the audience often joins in the singing, clapping, and dancing.

Composers
As a folk genre, there have been many good composers, some well known in
their day and into the present. Perhaps one of the genre's most celebrated
composers and performers was Manuel Jiménez, known as 'El Canario'.
Certainly, there were many others, including such greats as Ramito, Ismael
Rivera, Mon Rivera (the junior), and Rafael Cortijo. The genre has had a revival
recently, as evident by the emergence of many plena bands (such as Plena
Libre, Atabal, and Viento de agua) and its use in various songs, such as Ricky
Martin's recent song "Pégate" and Ivy Queen's "Vamos A Celebrar".

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 References

1. Todo listo en Ponce para recibir a Cheo Feliciano. (http://www.metro.pr/en

tretener/todo-listo-en-ponce-para-recibir-a-cheo-feliciano/pGXndu!OFHZrI
mbwgHzI/) Inter News Service. 20 April 2014.
2. Welcome to Puerto Rico: Music (http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/m
usic.shtml) - see La Bomba
3. La Plena: Nació en Barrio San Antón. El Mundo, 23 November 1971. page
23.
4. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Taylor & Francis. 2000. p. 939.
ISBN 0-8240-4946-2.
5. LEY: Para reconocer al Barrio San Antón, del Municipio de Ponce, como
lugar de interés histórico y cultural, y designarlo como “Cuna de la
Plena”, y para disponer para la coordinación entre el Instituto de Cultura
Puertorriqueña y el Municipio de Ponce para implementar lo dispuesto en
esta Ley, y para la promoción de los valores históricos y culturales de esta
comunidad. (http://senado.pr.gov/Proyectos%20del%20Senado/pc1392-ta.
pdf) Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. 16ta. Asamblea 1ra. Sesión.
Legislativa Ordinaria. Camara de Representatntes. Projecto de la Camara
Numero 1392. 24 March 2009. Accessed 1 April 2018.
6. Modak, Sebastian (15 February 2019). "Visiting Puerto Rico, and Finding
the Up Beat" (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/travel/puerto-rico-plac
es-to-visit.html). NYT.
7. Honor, status, and law in modern Latin America (https://www.worldcat.org
/oclc/57311296). Caulfield, Sueann., Chambers, Sarah C., 1963-, Putnam,
Lara. Durham: Duke University Press. 2005. ISBN 0822335751.
OCLC 57311296 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57311296).
8. "Centro: Sound: Interview Two with Ovidio Dávila on December 18 1992
[RGC.ODav.1992.12.18.2]" (https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/digitalarchive
/index.php/Detail/objects/7572). centropr.hunter.cuny.edu.
9. Aparicio, F.R. (2010). Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music, and
Puerto Rican Cultures (https://books.google.com/books?id=WjrHBwAAQB
AJ&pg=PA32). Music Culture. Wesleyan University Press. p. 32.
ISBN 978-0-8195-6994-3. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
10. Roy-Féquière, M. (2004). Women, Creole Identity, and Intellectual Life in
Early Twentieth-century Puerto Rico (https://books.google.com/books?id=
LWi4kU9QP-YC&pg=PA119). Puerto Rican studies. Temple University
Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-59213-231-7. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
11. Pfeiffenberger, Sylvia (10 February 2010). "Jazz finally taps into plena, one
of Puerto Rico's overlooked rhythms" (https://indyweek.com/api/content/5
26a5739-131b-5c2d-a8ad-f8f6aeb6be71/). INDY Week. Retrieved
20 October 2019.
12. "Bomba and Plena Artists Offer Live Music in Puerto Rico" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20140625040312/http://www.lasalitacafe.com/paque-lo-sep
as/bomba-plena-artists-offer-live-music-puerto-rico/). La Salita Cafe.
Archived from the original (http://www.lasalitacafe.com/paque-lo-sepas/bo
mba-plena-artists-offer-live-music-puerto-rico/) on 25 June 2014. Retrieved
28 June 2014.

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 Aparicio, Frances R., "Listening to salsa: gender, Latin popular music, and
Puerto Rican cultures" (https://books.google.com/books?id=ogZgZ6h84eQ
C&printsec=frontcover), Wesleyan University Press, 1998.
ISBN 978-0-8195-6308-8. Cf. Chapter Two: A Sensual Mulatta Called the
Plena, pp. 27–44.

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