# Disguised as dancing bear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951 "2020-01-04T23:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/41 "2020-01-06T18:34:11Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A group of women fleeing authoritative men in their tribe, who have hacked of a male symbol of vitality from their outrigger. Given POB’s use of historical incidents, I wonder if it has any basis in fact. Don’t forget about the small, dried, purselike objects nailed to totem as well… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/42 "2020-01-06T18:37:10Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Don’t forget about the small, dried, purselike objects nailed to totem as well… I try to forget about things like that, muldoonthief, and I was doing rather well until now. Thanks a lot! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/43 "2020-01-06T18:54:27Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > “♫ They’ll love us, won’t they? > They feed us, don’t they? ♫” (unavoidable delay) [oops - linky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abaf_77JML8) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/44 "2020-01-06T19:14:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Yeah, I find that jumping the shark. A human in a bear costume would likely be exhibiting unmistakable \*human \*motions and behaviors despite trying his hardest to pass himself off as a bear. Especially - the locals may not have ever seen a bear, but they see plenty of animals, wild and tame, and should be able to tell a taxidermied head and glass eyes versus a real live animal - or notice that, hey wait a minute, those are just eyeholes for someone wearing a mask. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/45 "2020-01-06T22:48:27Z")
It sounds like a silly disguise, but this is also claimed of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a 17th-century French writer. She wanted to marry a younger man, Charles Briou, whose family opposed the match. Supposedly, they locked him up, but she gained access to the home by accompanying a travelling performing troupe disguised as a dancing bear and managed to escape with him in this guise (they were subesquently married with the King’s permission, but Charles’ family had the marriage annulled and Charles locked up in a madhouse). This is of course speculation, but supposing the story is true; in that case, even if the costume didn’t convince anyone that it was an actual bear, it would perhaps have been good enough for the purpose of disguising Charlotte’s identity. Perhaps they just saw her as a performer disguised as a bear and left it at that. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/46 "2020-01-07T03:21:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > His writing has been compared to Jane Austen; he read Austen’s books. > There is indeed more to the books than swash buckling. > May a suggest [Adam Hardy’s Fox series?](https://www.historicnavalfiction.com/general-hnf-info/blog/fox-is-back) Thanks for the hint, and for the correct spelling of her name. I will leave my remaining Jack Aubrey audiobooks to gather metaphorical dust. The only time I listen to audiobooks is while I am running. Anything that bogs down into slow tedium does not help the progress of my run. On the flip side, a really good action story can make the miles fly by. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/47 "2020-01-07T11:40:34Z")
> [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](#): > > It sounds like a silly disguise, but this is also claimed of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a 17th-century French writer. She wanted to marry a younger man, Charles Briou, whose family opposed the match. Supposedly, they locked him up, but she gained access to the home by accompanying a travelling performing troupe disguised as a dancing bear and managed to escape with him in this guise (they were subesquently married with the King’s permission, but Charles’ family had the marriage annulled and Charles locked up in a madhouse). > > This is of course speculation, but supposing the story is true; in that case, even if the costume didn’t convince anyone that it was an actual bear, it would perhaps have been good enough for the purpose of disguising Charlotte’s identity. Perhaps they just saw her as a performer disguised as a bear and left it at that. Thanks! Now I’ll wonder if POB read about that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/48 "2020-01-07T11:49:06Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Thanks for the hint, and for the correct spelling of her name. > I will leave my remaining Jack Aubrey audiobooks to gather metaphorical dust. > > The only time I listen to audiobooks is while I am running. Anything that bogs down into slow tedium does not help the progress of my run. On the flip side, a really good action story can make the miles fly by. Fox is pretty much non stop naval action. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/49 "2020-01-07T16:48:15Z")
One of the great literary characters said to resemble a dancing bear was Travis McGee’s best friend, Meyer. He was a large, hairy man who was light on his feet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/50 "2020-01-08T20:43:25Z")
[This](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/08/romania-new-year-bear-dancers-alecsandra-raluca-dragoi-best-photograph)is what a bloke in a bear skin actually looks like. Not bad actually. ---
**Author:** ![Joeu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joeu/32/2911_2.png) [@Joeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joeu)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/51 "2020-01-08T22:01:02Z")
It was an actual bear skin, as I remember, not just a manufactured costume, so maybe that adds to the verisimilitude? Maybe? A little? But I also think there’s another plausible explanation. People at the time were probably used to seeing traveling performing animals, and maybe some, or even most, of those “animals” were actually people in skins/costumes. It might be that all “dancing bears” looked a little bit fake, and that’s what people would expect to see, so the costume would work. Maybe somewhat dubious. But possible. How do you get a tall, blond-haired, rosy-complexioned, stout Englishman through miles and miles of countryside where he can’t be recognized for who he is? Maybe you don’t actually disguise him as a bear, but as some poor schlemiel whose only way to make a living is to go around in a bear costume. Even if people pretty much knew he was a guy a costume, they wouldn’t think of him as a Royal Navy officer in a costume. (Or maybe I should tell that to the marines; the old sailors will never believe it) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/52 "2020-01-08T22:21:43Z")
All I could think of was Cosmo Allegretti in the role of Dancing Bear on _Captain Kangaroo_. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/53 "2020-01-08T22:34:04Z")
Also though of [obligatory Tim Minchin reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLGkGo8Yd8c). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951.md?page=2)