OUR LOCAL TALENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 10

OUR LOCAL TALENT.

COMPETITIONS CONTINUE. SOME VERT GOOD WORK TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. *?" This morning competitors in the children's classes in the elocutionary and dancing sections of the Auckland Competitions Society's festival occupied "the whole of the programme. Miss Iris Montgomery was engaged in the Concert Chamber judging the classical and fancy-dancing, and she was followed by Mr. Robert Clark, who judged the Highland dancing, while Mr. Culford Bell took the elocutionary section in -the annexe. This afternoon, in the Town Hall proper, eight junior choirs, com- : prising 320 children, will be heard and judged by- Mr. Temple White, while the piano championship' and cornet solo -will also be taken. To-night the usual recalls " wiH' be decided. At last evening's - session there was a 'larger attendance of the public than before, but' in. this respeet'the competitions are not. being given ''all' the support that was expected.' In Wellington, for instance, the competitions" are always excellently patronised. It i* pointed out that thi Auckland Society's venture is a most commendable ca% sad it means much to the young elocutionists and dancers to have such "competitions held in their own town. When the public realise this properly, better attendances should result. •Last evening there appeared the competitors who were recalled at the afternoon sessions. The results and the judges' comments were:— Soprano Solo (Open). Miss Lucy Cleveland ..... 1 Miss Gladys Ryan 2 Miss Dorothy Mudford 3 Song by New Zealand Composer (Open). Miss GtVen Hughes •■•••. 1 Miss Kathleen .Deane .'. 2 Mr. Dudley Wrathall 3 The performances of Miss Hughes and Miss Deane were particularly good. English Ballad ' (Open). Miss Dulcie Evans 1 Miss Edna M. Peace 2 Miss Kathleen Deane 3 Some very good and highly enjoyable performances were givenl Scottish Ballad (Men). Mr. J. Littler :... 1 Mr. J. Dickson ........:... 2 Mr. A. L: Macpherson. . 3 Scottish Ballad (Girls under 16.) Miss Dorothy Mudford 1 Miss Ruth Gourdie 2 A very high standard-was attained by the performers. Musical Monologue (Ladies). Miss Marinota Tuck 1 Miss -Phyllis Mobberley 2 Miss Dorothy Buckingham ...;.... 3 The.winner gave a nice attractive rendering and spoke well with music. Misß-Mobberley lacked-sufficient, change in voice. , . Piano Solo (under 18 years). Eric C. L. Bell 1 P. Mobberley and Richard B. Oddy (equal) ~.-.;..-. 2 The winner" was responsible ..for very good work, and had a good idea of the piece. He held interest throughout, .The other two were so nearly balanced that a tie had to. be declared for secondplace. Junior Champion Solo (Boys and Girls under 1.6).. Bert Skeels 1 Clifford Smith 2 Sybil P. Phillipps \ 3 The winner gave a very bright rendering, but the work'of all three, was good. There was little to choose between them. Recitation (Standard VI. Girls.) Marie Corner 1 Olive Gaudin 2 M. B. Woodall and Hazel Clist (equal) 3 The class on the. whole was a good one. The winner gave a nice sympathetic performance. Recitation (Standard 111. Girls.) Rosalie Daniels 1 Marjorie J. Taylor . 2 Ina Watson . and Patsy A. Y. Carr (equal) 3 The winner gave a good, natural performance. Recitation (Standard 111. Boys). Leonard Smith ;, 1 Edwin Clist ','. \\ .7 Difficulty is always experienced in getting good performances from junior classes for boys. The standard of the work of the girls in a similar class was rather higher than that of these boys. Highland Fling (Boys under 15.) Stanley. Brown I Rex Angus ' _ There were only three competitors in this class and there was little difference between their performances. Irish Jig (under 11.) Betty Kerr ......'..', ; j' Daphne Brown \ [\'['"" 0 Rosa Heighton .......... ." *' ' 3 The dancing was, on the whole, very good in this particular class. Toe Dance (under 11). * •• Doreen O'Leaty \\ j Joyce Ardley ■•.-......!!;"" 2 Sylvia Poynter ...... .../...{.., ° [ ■ 3 TO-DAY'S EVENTS. DANCING SECTION. Classic or Eastern Dance (under 15). There were five competitors in this class, but the judge (Miss Iris Mont-; gomery) said that there were only two who gave what could be called classical dances. She therefore made the following final award:— ' •"■ Miss Mary Wilson and Miss Genee F.odger, both equal for second place. Character Dance (under 11). Recalls: Gladys Cain, Elva Parr, Dallas Lerhaby. ' Toe Dance (under 15). . .' Recalls: Del Thomson, Mary Wilson Dorothy McPhail. .* - ' Very highly commended: Genee' Rodgen Edna FitzwillUm. Marjorie' McLaughlin, and Mavis Sage. ■-...•- Highland Fling (Girls under 15). j Recalls: Irene Long, Edna Fitz- ! William, Annie J. Saran, Lila Collins. I The judge (Mr. Robert (Clark') jthat the competitors in this section ' showed great pfomiee. : ' i - ..--•'.-■

elocution (jinriok SfcCTlOll..; * Recitation (Standard I. Girla). ' "The Swings (Stevenson). Recalls: . Mavis. J. Hearting, Tuppy Galbraith, Marguerite McCoy. ' Highly commended: Dorothy M. Dreaver,.Nona Watts, Beryl J. Dickson. "This piece should be given in a simple manner," "said Mr. Culford Bell. ''Many of this V competitors make too much of-it." . , Recitation (Standard IV. Girls). "Two Dorothys" (Anon). Recalls: Ida Ashwin, Nancy Greig, Doucee. O'Brien. Highly commended: Patricia Buddie. - "I cannot say this was a very good ulass for Standard IV. girls," said the judge. "One of the requirements of the piece was a good-sense of rhythm. That was; not expressed by very many of the competitors. Some took it heavily instead of lightly. The voices and distincness were good, but creeping in alb the time was a rather monotonous use of the same .tones. Regarding gestures, some put in a fearful lot. Another thing very much missed -was facial expression. It was- delightful -when one child came andseemed to lighten up the words;" Redtation (Standard VI. Boys). "The* Guards. Came .Through" (Conan ', Doyle). .' Recalls: J.. Roy. Ferguson,«,Jackson Bourdot, Kenneth Warburton. - Very highly commended: Edward Tabuteau. . "There . were three good .competitors in. tbis-class," said.Mr. Bell. "The-others just used wordsr—words—words,- without expression. Facial expression was weak and .the vowel sounds not always.pure. Some- of the reciters .ran phrases and sentences together." The recalled competitors, will, appear j this evening for the judges' final decisions. .."."■