Gavrila’s Bears, Comanesti, Moldova Region [ROMANIA]
Writings from @dianazeynebalhindawi :
“Between Christmas and the New Year, in a handful of villages along the Trotus Valley of Romania’s Moldova region, troupes of “dancing bears” – men and women of all ages wearing real bear skins – tour private homes and restaurants in a ritual whose function is to chase away last year’s bad spirits.
The origin of this “bear dance” dates back to practices as recent as the 1930s when vagrant [Roma] would descend from the surrounding mountains with bears on leashes, and visit the homes of villagers. [Roma] would be given a tip in exchange for a bear cub to walk on the backs of villagers with back pains. Once a bear aged, gypsies would employ it for a different purpose when visiting households – they would set the bear to walk on hot metal sheets, which would cause the bear to “dance” or skitter about to avoid the burning sensation beneath its feet. These visits were made around the New Year, in coordination with other rituals of ethnic Romanian origin that were performed around the holiday season. It is unclear when gypsies began wearing bear skins and imitating the dancing bear, or when ethnic Romanians adapted
the ritual.
It is no longer legal to hunt bears. The “bear dance” has survived largely due to the efforts of local governments who organize parades and competitions to incentivize the organization of bear troupes, as well as the individual efforts of troupe leaders who grew up with the the tradition and hold it close to their hearts.”
