ITALIAN BAN ON MAORI DRESS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27564, 22 January 1955, Page 9

ITALIAN BAN ON MAORI DRESS

Special Rules For Television (Special Correspondent

LONDON, January 20. The traditional Maori dress of puipui and mat worn by a “Maori Quartet”—four, singers who are making a reputation for themselves in Britain—was banned by Italian television. Dinner jackets and black ties had to be worn instead.

This was the experience of the quartet—J. W. Ward-Holmes, of Nelson; H. Gilbert, of Waikaremoana; M. Hata, of Opotiki; and P. Rawiri, of Ruatahuna—when they flew from London to Milan to give a television performance of their songs and dancing for six minutes. Although women may appear in the nude in Italian night clubs, the regulations for television are so severe that no part of the human body may be exposed. Then some of the gestures of the Maori dances performed by the quartet were deleted. The Australian girl, Vola Van Deere who appears with the quartet and performs Hawaiian songs and dances, was not allowed to wear Hawaiian dress. She had to appear in an evening frock, and could hardly move. The Maoris are now appearing nightly in a fashionable London hotel. They will go to Hamburg towards the end of February for another television performance.