ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of the fiestas scene and its various social and psychological components from human behavior to musical forms. It examines how identity, sexuality, gender, Cubanness, gayness, interaction, psychology, ritual behavior, collectiveness, aestheticism, and gay sensibility are reflected in the phenomenon. The chapter deals with the social, behavioral, psychological, visual, and musical aspects of the scene. The ambiente is an alternative to mainstream society, with its own rules, hierarchy, interaction modes, codes of behaviors, and musical spaces such as the fiestas. Heelas and Seel claims that the dance-music culture constitutes a psychological 'secondary institution', as it 'shifts' from 'dictated life' to 'subjective life'. Homosexuality in dance has been investigated mostly in the Western art/ballet context. The dancing experience, the interaction between dancers, and the dance music played, are integral parts of the gay identity space that is created in the fiestas, and which allows different levels and ways of interaction and identification.
