NATIONAL DANCING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22427, 6 September 1947, Page 4

NATIONAL DANCING

Sir, —It would appear that M. I. George considers herself to be an authority on national dancing. May I ask if she is a member of the Academy of National Dancing 9 And is she a registered judge and teacher of dancing? Gisborne’s standard of teaching and work lias always been of the best because first all the qualified teachers and judges in this district were taught by the late Mr. Duncan S. McLennan, the man who danced before the King, and who was the greatest exponent of national dancing this country ever saw. Yet M. I. George dares to criticise the style of this eminent dancer. The question as to who is the finest dancer in Gisborne is a matter for only a competent judge to decide. LESLIE RYAN. Sir, —M. T. George may have judged a festival in Dunedin on some occasion, but would not be permitted to judge again because she is not a member of the Academy. Furthermore, Mrs. Parker was chosen as senior demonstrator for the Academy by the best authorities in New Zealand, and is acclaimed as a demonstrator and teacher by (lie lending judges and teachers of the city. If Mrs. George is the authority she would have us believe, surely she would have made her mark in the dancing world in Gisborne before this. She is so obviously out of touch with dancing that she is unaware oi Ihe efforts made by the Academy in the last two years to standardise national dancing in New Zealand. If Mrs. George has been a succossfu dancer in the past, it seems a pity that she now chooses to ride oil" into obscur-

ity on the wings of unjustified criticism. N.Z. PIPING & DANCING ASSN. Gisborne-East Coast Centre. I'Lcller abridged. Subject to right of reply by M. I. George, this corr?"pondence is closed. —Ed., Herald.]