ABSTRACT

This chapter examines bolero from a queer perspective. It introduces the gay bolero experience in its private and social forms, and deconstructs it to identify the parts resonating with gay identity in Special Period Cuba, mainly its ambiguous melodramatic lyrics, and its Camp characteristics. Bolero is the first style of Cuban vocal music to gain international recognition and the first globally known genre that fuses African and Hispanic elements. In spite of its internal emotional character, bolero has an audience, even when experienced in private-an imagined audience. Bolero fiestas as a social event with a physical audience, and 'kitchen bolero', when bolero performance is experienced solitarily, it is still an act of performance and performativity, and the audience is imaginary. The same imagined audience is there in Aurelio's kitchen where he mimes to his favorite boleros and points the gestures to an invisible entity, and not to the only physical audience in the room.