GYMNASTIC DISPLAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19731, 23 September 1929, Page 5

GYMNASTIC DISPLAY.

Y.M.C.A. ENTERTAINMENT. Tho Civic Theatre was packed on Saturday evening when the local centre of the Y.M.C.A. presented their annual gymnastic carnival and variety entertainment. The executive responsible lor toe nne programme must be congratulated on their *on, and the whole performance contradicted witn empnasis the popular beliel that an amateur know must ur«.g. Il anyone can ue singed out lor special praise, it must ceruuniy oe Air C. U. i'ega, the physical director oi th 9 1 M.C.A. in a programme ot twenty-ave items, no fewer thaa sixteen were oiapiays of Dtiyaical worJt, and yet ad were outsn.uuux* in their own individual way. Tnis individuality can only be the result of a great deal of carelul planning and thought. Credit must also be given to the armj oi voung men who earned through successiony in a smgie evening a series of gymnastic and acrobatic exercises which must be tar more than their reguiar fare for one day. If ampler proof were needea of the way in which the Association's physical routine builds stamina, it would be difficult to find. And these remarks apply almost equally to tho work of the young ladies, who in their lees strenuottfi way pertonned just as ditncuit ft foftt. . , The men's work included free exercise® ox all kinds, indoor athletics, springboard jumpin" and diving, work on the vaulting horse, exercisss with ten-pound rods, dumb-bells, parallel bars, tumbling, pyramids vaulting the elephant, and, together with the ladies classes, marching exercises and gymnastic dancing The ladies were responsibls for a display of calisthenics, clnb swinging, wand drill, and a remarkable performance of illuminated marching. Miss Dorothy Manhire, a dancer of considerable ability, s»ve an attractive "Grecian Statue Dance," which was more or less dramatic, and in which she held some phenomenal arabesques. Later on in the programme, she danced with a skipping rope, and showed an excellent technique, skilfully wearing some classical figures into her work. , Her accompanist was Miss Doris Webb. Voca! items .were given cy Mine. Pearce and by Mr .7. L. Tennent. Good work was done by two clever clowns, whose bright appendages *o many of the items were a feature of the show Burlesques on the rodeo, tha old-tirce .lists, and a breathlees corrida, completed the programme.