DANCING BEARS

As the 'main character' of my project is a dancing bear I decided to research more about them, realising that I didn't actually know much about the subject. And reading about it, it sounds absolutely horrific. Most of the information below is taken from charity websites and a newspaper article, so I know that their facts could be emphasised or sensationalised, however there is no doubt in my mind that bear dancing is animal cruelty at it's most atrocious.

From the beginning to the end of their lives, it appears that tame bears live through relentless torture. Taken from their mothers as cubs (mothers who are usually killed and butchered for meat or medicine) [1] the bears have their teeth and claws either filed down or completely removed, rendering them defenseless against their owners.[2]

In order to 'teach' the cubs to dance, they are forced to stand on sheets of burning hot metal whilst music plays [3]. The bear will raise it's feet off the hot metal to stop the burning, and this is done until the bear will automatically start picking up it's feet when it hears the music, and the metal is no longer needed. [4] In order to control the bears and make them stand, their noses are either pierced with metal rings attached to a chain or rope [5], or in some cases a rope will be thread through the nose of the bear [6]. An extremely sensitive part of the bear, it only takes a tug to get the bear up and standing.  Fed on a poor diet of bread and alcohol [7], the bears are malnourished and much smaller than their wild counterparts, therefore easy to tackle and control.

Dancing bears live a miserable life of physical and phycological abuse, and many will resort to showing  'stereotypic behaviours such as swaying and pacing and self mutilation'. [8]

The sadness behinds this truth now adds a whole other melancholy to what I am making, and now there are certain decisions I have to make regarding my piece whether I encorporate or ignore this information that I have researched.

As I am focusing on a local tale about dancing bears and not about the general plight of dancing bears in modern society I don't think I have to be too heavy handed should I want to apply any of this research to my final piece, however there could be some design decisions that reflect the fact that he is a dancing bear and the fact that his life would not have been peaceful or loving, but in fact quite the opposite.

The fact that I am making a costume mostly out of fabric I think represents that of a dancing bear, a flimsy and soft body that reflects that of an animal that is no longer solid and robust- but weak and easily manipulated.  In fact, I think the word 'manipulated' refers to what my costume is all about. Stories that get manipulated over time for entertainment, animals manipulated for entertainment, costumes and puppets manipulated for entertainment, I think this confirms what I'm trying to say with my work. This research has also made me reconsider certain aspects of my design, originally my thumbnail designs included the costume having teeth and claws, but after reading this I think it will be more relevant if I do not include either of these to reflect how defenceless these animals really are.


1. MANGER, WARREN. 2015
2. WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION. 2017
3. WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION. 2017
4. WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION. 2017
5. FOUR PAWS. 2012
6. MANGER, WARREN. 2015
7. FOUR PAWS. 2012
8. FOUR PAWS. 2012


Manger, W. 2015. Elvis the dancing bear cub has been saved from a living hell and is getting back to wild ways. Mirror Online. [Online]. [Date accessed: 14 April 2017] Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/elvis-dancing-bear-cub-been-6312780

World Animal Protection. 2017. Ending bear dancing. [Online]. [Date accessed 14 April 2017] Available from: https://www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/our-work/animals-wild/ending-bear-dancing

Four Paws. 2012. About Dancing Bears. [Online]. [Date accessed 14 April 2017] Available from:
http://www.four-paws.org.uk/projects/bears/belitsa-sanctuary/about-dancing-bears/