Aloha Boricua

Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, New York

The rhythms of traditional bomba y plena and urban reggaetón collide in this song-driven rendition of the historic migration of Puerto Ricans to Hawaii. Premiered in 2007 and part of Pregones/PRTT’s “historic trilogy”, Aloha Boricua focuses on an early instance of strategic population displacement under U.S. colonial rule: Following the devastation of Category 4 hurricane San Ciriáco, just one year after military invasion, and lured by the promise of paid employment and new beginnings, young Puerto Rican sugarcane workers and their families embark on a one-way transoceanic trip to Hawaii. Multiple voices overlap in the musical narrative, including those of Hawaiian Queen Lili’uokalani; Pele, Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes; and a younger generation of streetwise poets and musicians eager to make sense of it all.