The Maori of Yesterday, To-day and To-morrow

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7253, 5 September 1933, Page 8

The Maori of Yesterday, To-day and To-morrow

TALENTED PARTY GIVES DEMONSTRATION CONCERT,

.•nit -is—doubtful if Palmerston North has ever been- favoured with a Maori concert of a calibre to rival the entertainment offered at the Opera House last evening by the combined Methodist Maori Mission Party. A large and representative combination, drawn from all the leading tribes in the Dominion, their qualities as entertainers, both individually and as a troupe, seemed almost legion in number. Their diversity of performance was reinforced by undoubted ability in execution, and each item was rendered with delightful finish. A feature of their work was the captivating harmony with which the concerted melodies were rendered, while in the more spirited numbers they acquitted themselves as apt masters of the haka, the poi dance, and the waiatas.

The concert was in three parts, representing respectively the Maori of yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. The initial items were typical of the Maori before his ways were modified by contact with the pake-ha, and included a kainga scene, a tribal welcome to visitors, and the first part of a lively TititoTea. The Maori of the -present was found to have adapted himself somewhat to European ways of dross, although ho had lost nothing of his vigorous delight in the dances and choruses of his. race. The long-stringed poi was a particularly popular number, while the song “E pari ra,” sung first as a solo and then as a concert number, was loudly acclaimed. The star item was the canoe poi “Akonga,” depicting in music, in motion, and in mien the classic voyage of the Maoris from Hawaiki across the Pacific to the new habitat in Aotea-roa. A spirited haka by the male members concluded this instructive section. When the party returned for the final session they were transformed into the well-dressed, -fine-featured Maoris who will do credit to their race in 'the years tc come. Their renderings of Eng lish songs and chants w y cre excellent, while instrumental efforts were equally well mastered. Every performer revealed charming musical talent, and the unusual intonations of the Maori choir were' particularly pleasing. In all the concert was one of unusual merit, and the crowded house that greeted the concert was more than satiV lied.