Spread on a very wide area, from Banat to Moldavia and from Oltenia to Maramures, the masks dances are considered as the most picturesque and meaningful component of the folk customs celebrating, in Romanian villages, the coming of the New Year.

These dances originate from the archaic, pre-Christian mentality according to which difficult moments occur in the people's lives and in the course of time, when the effects of the never ending struggle between good and evil, taking place in the Universe, can have a negative impact on every man's life.

People have resorted to the wearing of masks ever since the remotest times, with a view to protecting themselves, by concealing their identity so as to keep the malefic spirits at a safe distance away. One of those moments of crisis, when the threat of evil seemed impending, was the very passing from one year to another, all along the twelve cosmogonical days, when one world was dying and another one took shape, at the end and the beginning of every year. In the course of time and alongside with the spreading of Christianism, this interval has been assimilated to the sacred and festive period between Christmas and the Epiphany and the protection rites were preserved, being transmitted along centuries as specific Romanian traditional customs.

"The Goat Dance", which is very often associated with a vast "Goat Procession", is very popular within the entire Romanian geographical space. It includes, apart from the "goat" itself, which is the main character, a number of secondary ones, such as "the gypsy", "the he-goat" and many others, in keeping with the carol-singers'fancy and the skill of the mask-making artisans who intend to render the dance more spectacular and original by means of the surprising aspect of the mask and costumes. The above mentioned characters sustain and diversify the action of the dance, by mocking at certain features of character so as to stir the audience's interest and to keep up their merrymaking.

The costume of "the goat" is made of wooden skeleton covered with a hand woven carpet adorned with multi-coloured ribbons, tassels and small pieces of mirror. Its head is moved by means of a lever system which renders the jaw sufficiently mobile so as to beat the dance rhythm, while the main character is mimicking illness or even death. But it so happens that the "goat" always comes back to life, the same as the vegetation which keeps reviving every year.

By their ingeniously combining the most unexpected materials, such as pieces of cloth, wood, animals horns, untanned skins of sheep, goat or bear, pieces of adornment - beads, little bells, mirrors, tinsel, fringes, feathers, etc. - , the maskmakers create amazingly variegated and expressive masks and costumes.

As a matter of fact, the masks used as main accesories within the New Year celebration customary ceremonies from a special domain of the peasant art, a domain in which the specific character of a zone - which used to be so pregnant in the past - tends to gradually attenuate, as a result of the various borrowed elements and innovations.

"Gypsy" - mask belonging to the "Goat Procession", Moldavia (Bacau)	"Little Horse" belonging to the "Goat Procession", Moldavia (Bacau)
"Goat" costume, Moldavia (Bacau)	"Badanar" - mask belonging to the masked characters'group, Moldavia (Bacau)	"He-Goat" - mask, belonging to the masked characters'group Moldavia (Neamt)
The costume of "The Handsome Man" - belonging to the masked characters' group, Moldova (Bacau)	Group of masked men, Moldavia (Bacau)

Last update: 2003, March 25
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