Tradiții de Anul Nou - Alaiul de datini și obiceiuri din Boiștea (Târgu Neamț, Moldova)

The folk ensemble of customs and traditions from Boistea (village belonging to Petricani commune and located about 9 km southeast of Târgu Neamt) entered the stage installed in the middle of the city, opening the 9th edition of the Festival of Customs and Traditions of New Year. This festival, embroidered on a very old traditional event, takes place in Târgu Neamt (Neamt County, Moldova, Romania) usually on January 2 of each year, but now it has been two days ahead (so December 31, 2021) for reasons of Covid-19 pandemic management. The ensemble from Boistea is coordinated by the parish priest Gheorghe Trofin, an active character in the folklore program. The program includes three distinct moments, in order: the dances of the Arnauts, the New Year Wishes (traditional Plugusorul/The plowman), and finally the dance of the bear and the masks. The dances of the Arnauts are energetic, different and interrupted by short static moments of dialogue that reminiscent of popular sketches. As I said before, the word ARNAUT is of Turkish origin and refers to the Albanian population in general, regardless of religion, sometimes referring to Albanian soldiers in the Turkish army. On the territory of the Romanian Principalities, the term Arnaut has lost its ethnic connotation and refers to the occupational one, the Arnauts being mercenaries of Albanian origin who carried out their military activity in the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Thus, in the final period of the Phanariot rulers, Serbs, Greeks and even Romanians were enroled to the Arnauts. The Arnauts formed army corps in the service of the Phanariot rulers (but also of the boyars) from Wallachia and Moldova, used as bodyguards, posse and guards. They were known for their skill, bravery, and loyalty to the ruler. The Arnauts are dressed in folk costumes and wear a borangic cloth or a napkin over their shirt, on which the beads ± mirrors are fastened, and underneath, a red blouse. On their heads they have a hat adorned with pieces of mirror and beads. They have white tails, "skirt" often white and adorned with ribbons, and on their feet „opinci” (folk footwear) with rattles. In some groups (not this one) the Arnauts hold a multicolored decorated mace in their hand. Within this group (but not only them) we notice the additional presence of some soldiers dressed not popularly, but in military uniform. I assume they represent the officer corps. New Year's greetings, brought on stage in the traditional form of the „Plugusorul” (plowman), have some very beautiful and interesting features in the version "Buhaiul cel tânăr" (The Young Bull) presented by the group from Boistea. The ”greetings” are said in a very fast rhythm with a special tone, a kind of recitation sung accompanied by the special sound of the whistle (possibly even a „caval”, as mentioned in the text) and the rhythm of the drums beaten with the free hand. The soundtrack is given by the "roar of the bull". „Plugusorul” is an agrarian custom, with deep roots in Romanian spirituality. Plugusorul is a carol, a recited agrarian carol, with theatrical elements. The final part of the performance is the dance of the bear and the masks. The group is represented by only one bear and about five masks ("gypsy-bears, bear leaders"). The carol with the bear is found only in Moldova, on New Year's Eve. Bears are led and prompted by lyrics (sometimes slightly licentious) by one or more ("gypsies") leader-bears, sometimes accompanied by musicians and often followed by a whole procession of characters. The rolling of the bears in a circle, the beating of the feet and the death of the bear, and then the miraculous resurrection as well as its climbing on the cudgel metaphorically reproduce the succession of seasons that once stood under the sign of this animal, able to defeat winter and herald spring. In the sound of drums or the sound of the whistle, often aided by a whip, the bears murmur and imitate the swaying and jerky footsteps of the animal, striking the ground hard with its soles. The significance is the purification and fertilization of the soil in the new year. There is a hypothesis that the origin of this custom was a Thracian-Getic cult.