GRAND CONCERT BY METHODIST MAORI MISSION PARTY.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 15, 4 September 1930, Page 2

GRAND CONCERT BY METHODIST MAORI MISSION PARTY.

The audience, which -.greeted ithis I most unique party of entertainers in j St. .James's Hall, on Wednesday, August attested to the fact that they • are ;us popular in t-lie Hutt as they have been all over New Zealand. They are accompanied toy the Rev. A. J. •Se.am.er,- who said that frequently hun-dr-jds are turned away disappointed, for there-is not room to accommodate : them. On Wednesday night, there was not a spare scat in St. James's Hall. On the platform were momibcL-s of the -Mbthodist Church and the Key. Harold Sharpe, who very heartily weleoni'Od the visitors .on: xbehalf of the Hutt , Methodist Church; and the Hutt citizens and he welcomed them personally, for it was the second time it'had been his pleasure to ■ welcome the yeon,eert party.. The Maoris were very picturesquely /garbed, the girls'wearing- scarlet ,!raises and blae.it ties, reed skirts, and 't;:ich wore a bandeau with imitation huhi I'oather.; They.alst) draped Maori mats-round them. The men also,wcQ-e • reed skirts a.n.d mats and also wore a bandeau and, -luda feather. After Mr. Sharp's welcome, one of the men of the party spoke most stiwingly, Mr, Seainer interpreting. 'He said that the Bible had been kept an open book by the missionaries, but whilst the pakeha had presented the gospel to them with the fight hand, with the left they had introduced to them their-vices, drunkenness, etc., but he then wished only to speak of the right- hand. A most dramatic haka followed, then a prayer, after which the party, in their own inimitaible way, chanted a psalm. Mr Seamer then ; explained that they were celebrating the 108 th year of Methodism in New Zealand. He said that the party would sing the first Christian hymn sung by them in the Wellington province. The hymn was "Rode of Ages," and was sung in Maori.. A male member of the party then sang "Wiata," after which one of the girls sang charmingly and for an encore sang "Pass it on." She was unaccompanied. A poi dance .followed, the men accompanying with their banjos, mandolins and guitas. . This was greeted with a very insistent encore. A .dance, described as "Free and Easy and SemiModern, '' but nevertheless savouring strongly of the barbaric, earned tumultuous applause. Mr. Seamer here remarked that while the European dancer aimed .at being as graceful as possible, the Maori aim was to appear as ugly as he s eould, and to introduce as many contortions as possible! One-of the girls then sang *' Wiata Poi," while another dramatised it. Her encore was ,i( Daddy, "that old-time favourite. Another of the girls accompanied her on the piano. Her voice was of, that soft, melodious quality so typical of her people.. A'favourite fcymn, linaeeqnipanied was then sung by the party, and to heax the wonderful harmony of the female and male voices was a rare Joy. The audience was next thrilled by a dramatisation .of the coming of the Maori to New Zealand, An incantation to the priest was sung- as the canoe made its way over the vast ocean. The women, as is so often the .case with the Maoris, plied the oars. There were amusing exclamations atoout the sighting of sharks, etc. An<pthier dramatisa tion, "Maori Wiata" l by the party, was a most dramatic performance One of the men then "sang a song descriptive of his joy on sighting- the North Island. (He is a native of Taranaki). The party was then heard in a medley of choruses, religious and otherwise. An instrumental item followed, a Polynesian Lament, after which one of the girls, who is, jjossessed of a soprano voice of rare quality, sang. Her singing received a great ovation, her encore being "Annie Laurie," which made great appeal to her audience. Another of the girls then sang '' Wiata Maori," unaccompanied, the party joining in tie chorus, dramatising it most startlingly, at the finish. The party next sang a chorus, and each member accompanied with his or her own instrument. A poi dance, -reserv-

pd for daughters of chief tians, was most captivating with its rhythm and the swishing of \ the reed skirts. Another haka by the party followed, after which the audience on.cc again, heard the mellow voices in the harmonies of an old hymn, the quartette consisting of two girls and two men. The party then sang one ver&e of a Vesper hymn, the Benediction followed, after which the National Anthem brought to a close a wonderful evening's entertainment.