Jocul cu capra
The fantastic embodiment of some archaic vegetation deities, “The Goat” appears in the habits of the New Years’ Eve as a symbol of fertility and of fecundity, connecting the Romanian territory to the Greek antiquity and to the Oriental civilizations. In Tibet, The Goat was considered the divine messenger which brings wealth to the ground and cattle, and in the Dionyss cult, they were getting dressed in the skins of the sacrificed kids, convinced that this way they will gain the vitality, the exuberance specific to this animal. Watching today the play of the Goat mask, in every area of the country, we will recognize in the virtuous pantomime of the mask bearer, in the vitality of his movements but also in the death and rebirth of the Goat, the significant aspects of the ancient symbol of vegetation. The play of the goat is a frenetic dance which is executed for thousands of time in every caroled house.
The head of the Goat, made of wood, with the inferior jaws mobile in order to “clatter” is covered with fur (of kid or rabbit), and its cornels may come from a real animal (the goat, ram or deer) or may be made of wood. Between the cornels there are fantastic decorative compositions from the girls’ beadwork or their handkerchiefs, multicolored tassels or ribbons, mirrors, tinsel, ivy, basil, artificial or natural flowers. Everything is extremely glittering and fascinating, capable of reflecting the light and of relegation the dark and the cold which destroyed the vegetation. The body of the Goat is made by textile (carpets, red sail) on which other decorative elements are sewed: embroidered handkerchiefs (Suceava), beadwork sticks (Bacau), thatch ear (Botosani, Iasi), goat furs (Vrancea, Mehedinti), filets from sail or from colored paper (Neamt, Giurgiu) etc.
The mask is accompanied by a noisily group, together with the ever present country singers that accompany the dance of the goat. The goat struggles, rotates, leans and rhythmically moves its wood chaps, offering a remarkable authentic show.
Nowadays the dance is only a pretext for one of the traditional artistic events, an opportunity for displaying beautiful ornaments, carpets, towels, and so on, all in bright colours, at times rather loud, to cheer up the householders and to express best wishes on the occasion of the New Year.
The same as in the other dances with masks performed during the winter holidays, in the "capra" dance, besides the classical masks, the goat, the shepherd, the gipsy, the woodman masks of „devils" and of „greybeards" were introduced, where yells, lusty cheers, funny gestures, intensified the cheerful, humorous aspect.