JUDGES PLEASED

Evening Star, Issue 23354, 25 August 1939, Page 7

JUDGES PLEASED

WORK OF COMPETITORS SATISFACTORY WEAKNESSES IN ELOCUTION GENERAL STANDARD OF SPEECH GOOD Satisfaction with a good all-round standard appears to be the keynote of the judges’ opinions of the Competitions. Three of the judges—Mr Paul Schramm (instrumental), Mr Rupert Harvey (elocution), and Miss Betty ■ Carnochan (dancing)—have already intimated to the ‘Star’ their impressions of competitors’ work, while the opinion of the vocal judge (Mr C. H. 4 Adolph Mann) will be available at the conclusion of the Gilbert and Sullivan contest. Mr Schramm’s'comments were published in this paper last night, as part of an interview with him. Briefly summed! up, they express an appreciation of the work, together with a regret, that so few persons appear to be interested in string classes. The remarks made by Mr Harvey and by Miss Carnochan are given here. ELOCUTION CLASSES REFLECT SPEECH WEAKNESSES. “ Taken by and large,” said Mr Harvey, “ I have been quite pleased with the standard of work shown me in my sections. In my general remarks made from time to time during the festival, I have already indicated the most pronounced weaknesses, while more individual weaknesses are referred to in their proper place—the compeitors’ report cards. “ My main points of criticism have been weak vowel sounds, failure to stress consonants correctly, andl a certain slackness in speech.” Regarding vowel sounds, said Mr Harvey, the short “a ” and “oo ” sounds had proved particularly troublesome, the fault resulting in words like “mat” being sounded “ mart,” and! “ too ” as “ teu.” If consonants were not properly stressed, a confusion of sounds might arise, giving to any one word an entirely different meaning. Final consonants were often thrown away, but they were not put on to words to he ignored. A test piece in one section had been ‘ Two Red Roses Across the Moon,’ but nearly all the competitors rendered it, ‘ Two Red Roses Across the Moo,’ the final consonant in “ moon ” being completely swallowed.

Deportment had been satisfactory, remarked Mr Harvey. If very few showed signs of having paid particular attention to this regard, at least it could be said that none was in any way clumsy. The girls had appeared to rather better advantage than the boys. Too many of the competitors showed that they had not gone very deeply into the meaning of the pieces they recited, Mr Harvey contended. They had not stopped to analyse or paraphrase the compositions, and the result was rather flat, inclined to be monotonous. In particular the candidates entering the Shakespearean classes had disappointed.

Few indeed showed that they possessed any more than a surface value of the words, and it was plain from their renderings that they knew practically nor thing of the play from which the test extracts had been taken. . No elocutionist could expect to be a complete success it he or she did .not know the full meaning of the piece they intended to recite. The question of slackness of speech, continued Mr Harvey, was in reality only a reflection of the general standard of everyday speech, not merely in ’ New Zealand, but everywhere in the world. So far as New Zealand speech in general was concerned he was satisfied it was much better than in South Africa and better than in parts of Canada, notably in the Eastern States. It was not so good, however, as that found in Winnipeg, where the standard was remarkably good. Vancouver, too, had a speech of which it could bo proud. There is too much of a tendency today,” said Mr Harvey, “ for people to resort to the use of, slang, which is not pretty, and is certainly unnecessary. Some believe that a slang term is much more fitting to describe one particular thing than a word specially coined for that same purpose. Actually, that only indicates laziness; people cannot be bothered looking up the correct word, which would be ever so much better than any slang term could be. “ Speech is a precious thing, and it should be safeguarded. • The idea of speech is to make our thoughts understood to our fellow men. and we have good simple English in plenty for that purpose. “I offer this advice: ‘Think before you apeak.’ Few do it. If they djd there would be no carelessness in speech, no objectionable slang. Words are garments in which to clothe thoughts. Dress them well.” PROMISE OF DANCING PUPILS. “ So promising has been the work of the younger children in the various dancing sections,” remarked Miss Carnocnan, “ that I believe, with continued practice, these same children will provide the society with some particularly good sections in the near future. Their work generally has been very good, and most of_ the children have nice stage personalities. _ I have been particularly impressed with their miming capabilities, and I consider there are the makings of good > little actors amongst these children.” A fair standard of work has been shown in the tap dancing _ classes, although some of the competitors did not realise that this type of dancing required a certain measure of showmanship. Tn the senior classes, however, there had been a really excellent

standard shown, but the entries were very much smaller than in the junior classes. In some of the junior classes the children were undertaking work which was rather too complicated for them, and which they found difficult to interpret correctly. She would like to see youngsters being given easier work, and would advise teachers not to “ rush ’’ children into advanced work. By way of general advice Miss Carnochan suggested that all the work would be even better if the competitors would concentrate on being technically correct with their footwork and their armwork. There were times when these most important aspects were treated somewhat carelessly. Referring to costumes, Miss Carnochan expressed the greatest of pleasure. “ I can honestly say;" she stated, “that here in Dunedin I have seen the best costumes that I have seen in any part of New Zealand They have been a credit to the mothers, the teachers, and the children themselves. “ The work of two competitors has been specially gratifying.” Miss Carnochan continued. “ I refer to that of Miss Pamela Page in the junior sections, and of Miss Joyce Rowley in the senior sections. Pamela Page has given me some very choice performances, and she has the makings of a brilliant dancer. Miss Rowley gave me some of the best performances of the whole festival. I was exceedingly sorry to see such small entries in the senior classes, and if the work offered to me is any indication then there must be some very good children over the age of 14, and I cannot understand why more have not entered. However, the juniors are growing up, and they are all promising.”