Interesting bit of Tolkien lore on Numenor in the 2nd Age: The Great Bear Dance of Trompollë

“Most strange of all were the bear dances. The bears had a curious dance that seem to have been improved and elaborated by the instruction of men. At times the bears would perform dances for the entertainment of their human friends.

The most famous was The Great Bear Dance of Trompollë in which every year in the autumn many would come from all parts of the island.

To those not accustomed to the bears, the slow but dignified motions of the bears, sometimes as many as 50 or more together, appeared astonishing and comic.

But it was understood by all admitted to the spectacle that there should be no open laughter. The laughter of men was a sound that the bears could not understand. It alarmed and angered them.”

- JRR Tolkien, Death of Numenor