The strange, dark nights of Romania's bear dancers; The Bear Dance captured in photos

Each winter in Romania, locals dress themselves with bear skins and gather in troupes to perform the Bear Dance as they believe that performing the dances could drive away evil spirits.Fortunately, a New York-based photographer, Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi has caught the traditional event on her camera lens.

According to Exploring Romania, the Bear Dance is annually celebrated on New Year's Eve, which can only be seen in Moldavia. The dance dated back  2000 years ago and it is said that it drives away the evil spirits.  Other residents as well as visitors can actually watch the bear dance on its pagan rhythms on every New Year's Eve in Bacau county, especially in Dofteana and Darmanesti villages.

The dance is a tradition for the locals, until recently, few beyond the rural communities of the Trotus Valley have witnessed. But a series of photographs by New York-based photographer Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi has captured the Bear Dance for the whole world to see the mysterious ceremony.

 Alhindawi is a former humanitarian aid worker. She is now pursuing photo projects mainly across Africa. "The bear dances were always one of my favorite memories," she told CNN. The photographer also added, "It's a joyous event, although the dancers don't look that way in the pictures -- they're trying to look fierce."

The stunning snap shots of Alhindawi show men and women in full bear costume, parading through the streets in and around her old hometown, Moinesti. They were also accompanied by drummers and a singing "bear tamer."

The candid shots display the bear dancers enjoying the event. They were smoking cigarettes, sharing drinks, relaxing and even kissing. They were merry-making as they believe that bear dancing is meant to drive away evil spirits.

But the origin of this bear dance still dates back to practices as recent as the 1930s, when vagrant gypsies would go down from the mountains with bears, and visit the homes of villagers. They would be given a tip in exchange for a bear cub to walk on the backs of villagers with back pains.  Once the bear aged, the gypsies would use it for a varying purpose. They would set the bear to walk on hot metal sheets, which would cause the bear to "dance" or skitter about to avoid the burning sensation beneath its feet, as mentioned in a site created by Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi.

Alhindawi  also revealed that bear dancing was once an exclusively Roma activity, but now they've been priced out because a ban on bear hunting has escalated the price of the skins up to €2,000, which has become quite pricey for the locals.  Even though, some of the residents already sold their bear skins,  the tradition still remains intact and many locals still believe of the mystical power of the Bear Dance.