MAORI, HAKAS

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 May 1925, Page 8

MAORI, HAKAS

AN AUDIENCE DELIGHTED.

LONDON;'March 14. At a certain East End cinema this ■ week a percentage- of the takings was , devoted to ■ the Oxford House Settle- . meht Mission. A programme, hav- . ing'a New Zealand interest was interspersed between the usual series of , pictures. The denizens of Bethnal [ .Green probably have heard very little about New Zealand except that ’ it has produced a team of footballers, ' so/that the swarthy Maori warriors ’ who invaded this part of London the other night appeared as a people from another world, as it were. There t’ were about eight or nine hundred peoJ pie present and they received with 1 enthusiasm mingled with something 1 'akin to amazement the dancing of the i hakas and the singing. . , 1 . The party, who organised the Maori - programme was drawn from some ot , those who assisted in the New .Zea- ■ land section of the Pageant at Weni; > bley. Mr J. Te Kiri was the leader . of the troupe, and other New Zea- - landers were Mr W. P. Te Whiti ; (Galatea), Mr E. H. A. Scales (Wellington), Mr T. R. Brooks (Welling* 1 ton), Mr A. E. Cook (Hastings). Mr W. Sheffield (Rotorua), and Mr A. Goonan (Auckland). The remain-, ' ing five who took .part were London- ! ers, who were, good enough to help 1 originally in the Empire Pageant, 1 As an introduction to the pro- • gramme, a film depicting the wonders of the. Thermal Regions was shown. It was quite evident that the spectators were remarkably interested in the picture, judging from the inter- ■ jections and the remarks one heard. , Before the native dances were performed, an explanation was given of the position which the Maoris hold in New Zealand, and the audience was informed that the dances were such as were rarely seen by European today, though they were a common sight in the early days of settlement. Remembering the wild ideas regarding New Zealand which are held by people who ought to know better, the explanation to an East End audience was perhaps wise. 'The dancers were stripped to the waist, and their bodies were darkened with some colouring matter. Each one wore a genuine Maori mat over a pair of football “shorts.” Each carried a mere except the leader, who had the .Chief’s official weapon of war. The leader had his face made up to represent a fully tattooed warrior. Four dances were performed with tremendous vigour and reality. It was something that had probably never

been seen so far east in London before, and the audience was delighted, and gave tire dancers an enthusiastic reception. “E te' opi Maori,” tne farewell song to the East Coast Maoris departing for the war. was also sung with great effect. The verse was sung by Mr J- H. Whitehouse, who has a very pleasing voice a ln the end the chorus in English was shown on the screen behind tlie performers, and the warriors lapsed into English during the singing of the last few lines. j