Centuries in the past, folks in what’s now northeastern Romania donned bear skins and danced to fend off evil spirits. That customized is at present referred to as the Dancing Bears Competition, drawing crowds of vacationers each December.
Lots of of individuals of all ages, clad in bear costumes, dance yearly round Christmas to the deafening beat of drums and roam villages and cities. The spotlight of this 12 months’s competition was on Saturday, with bear-clad dancers descending in town of Comanesti in japanese Romania for the finale.
Guests come from so far as Japan to see the spectacle, that includes strains of individuals in costumes with gaping bear jaws and claws marching and dancing. Large crimson pompom decorations are often added to the furs. A number of the “bears” jokingly growl or fake to assault the spectators.
Locals say the customized dates again to the pre-Christianity period when folks believed that wild animals staved off misfortune or hazard. Dancing “bears” visited folks’s houses and knocked on their doorways to want them good luck and a Glad New 12 months.
“The bear runs via our veins, it’s the spirit animal for these in our space,” stated Costel Dascalu, who began collaborating within the competition when he was eight. On the time, Romania was nonetheless beneath communist rule and the competition was comparatively low-key.
“I need to preserve the custom alive,” the 46-year-old added. When the vacation season approaches, he joked, “our breath smells like bears, and we get goosebumps once we hear the sound of drums”.
Residents are completely satisfied the custom has lived on after many Romanians left the area within the Nineties to search for higher jobs in Western Europe.
Brown bears are broadly current in Romania’s traditions and tradition, and the animals can typically be seen by mountain roads and in forests. Excessive bear hunting prompted the authorities to situation a ban in 2016.
Members within the competition say a lot of the bear skins they use as costumes have been preserved for generations and handled with nice care.
Sporting a full-sized bear fur isn’t simple: together with the pinnacle and claws, the costume might weigh as much as 50kg (110 kilos). The costliest bear skins can value some 2,000 euros ($2,200), in accordance with native media.