URȘII de la BOȚEȘTI (Neamț) - Tradiții românești de Anul Nou (2 ianuarie 2025, Târgu Neamț, România)

The dance of the Bears from Boțești concludes the complex program presented by the folk procession from the village of Boțești (Girov commune, Neamț county) on the stage of the 12th edition of the "New Year's Customs and Traditions Festival", held in Târgu Neamț on January 2, 2025. The Boțești procession is composed of the groups "Răzeșii Cracăului" and "Năvala Urșilor" (The Rush of Bears), led by Mr. Florin Bălțătescu. Before the Bears, Plugușorul (the Ploughman), Capra *the Goat), Cerbul (the Deer) and Căiuții (the Horsemen) were on stage (see video). The Bears from Boțești ("Năvala Urșilor" - The Rush of Bears) impress with their number, quality of performance and costumes, winning the 2nd prize at the festival in the "authenticity of customs" category. The Boțești Bears group is composed of 2 bears leader (with red tunics and a cazon appearance) who recite and guide the bears, 8 masks that beat drums and a large number of bears among which we also see some girls, something less common. The bear is a symbolic animal in Romanian mythology, being the character that chases away winter and brings spring. It is assumed that the origin of this custom would be a pre-Christian, Thracian-Getic cult. The Bears from Boțești does not present a classic skit (for example, the serious illness of the bears followed by their miraculous healing), but it stands out through a narrative recited by the two bear leaders. To summarize, the narrative is the following: The bear leader introduces us the Bears from the Cracău Valley. The bear leader gets two bear cubs that are put to dance, but without feeding them. A shepherd spots a female bear with cubs on the banks of the Cracău River and alerts the village. The female bear comes to the village with her cubs. An ecological message: bears are returning to the forest cut down by humans and which they miss. The bears attacked the sheep and angered the bear leader who went after them, armed with a mace. The bear leader finds two bear cubs near Cracău, but when he takes them in his arms, he is attacked by the female bear. However, the bear leader manages to steal the cubs which he wants to put to dance. Arriving home, he opens the locked door and finds his wife in bed with two others. As a result, the bear leader gets angry and leaves, arriving in our "village". At the entrance to the village, the bear leader meets his father-in-law who asks him if he has any bears to give him. The bear leader doesn't listen to him and leaves with the bears. The father-in-law gets angry, and the "woman" leaves him. The bear had many girlfriends in the slum, one of whom got married, another forgot him, and the one on the road asks him for money (?). The bear leader, together with the bears, leaves for another village, and we will see each other again in a year. Best wishes for the New Year.