GYMNASTIC DISPLAY

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1934, Page 7

GYMNASTIC DISPLAY

Y.M.-Y.W.C.A. ENTERTAINMENT.

CLASSES SHOW POLISHED WORK.

- Mastery of body balance and perfect co-ordination of mind and muscle were the qualities demanded last night at Community House, New Plymouth, when the Y.W.-Y.M.C.A. gymnastic classes held a combined display which represented the results of work during the year. It was evident from the performance that astonishing progress has been made, a tribute to the ability and enthusiasm of the instructors, Miss O. J. Taylor and Mr. J. H. Ledgerwood. Though men and boys were represented in two excellent items, the evening was devoted mainly to girls’ and women’s classes. The skill and grace with which the movements, were performed were spectacular and it was interesting to note the increasing complexity and difficulty of succeeding exercises. Insistence was laid on rhythm and beauty of action rather than on speed, most of the movements being executed to music played by Miss C. Royse. A distinctive feature was the harmonious correlation of motion and sound, some of the more complex exercises closely resembling ballets in effect..

The display opened with a grand march in which the movements were crisp and finished, but relieved of any suspicion of military stolidity.

Posture and deportment exercises were followed by a folk dance. This was performed not so much with precision as with the simple grace that must have been the main charm of those old measures. A girls’ class went through exercises on the parallel bars, after which the primary schoolboys swarmed up and down ropes with simian dexterity. One of the most popular items was the demonstration of the use of Indian clubs, which were whirled with deceptive ease by a women’s class. After several lunging exercises a group of girls gave an exhibition on the horse. That size or strength was not an index of skill was proved by the fact that the smallest member showed no lowering of the general standard.

Perhaps the most delightful item on the programme was rhythmic movements executed by a women’s class to slow music. Ppise and co-ordination were essential for these exercises; some of the postures, could they have been held, might have formed the model for a new Discobolus.

A men’s squad performed feats on the horizontal bar which drew gasps of admiration from the spectators. Another of Cecil Sharpe’s folk dances was performed by girls dressed in green smocks and red petticoats, a costume that carried one back in imagination to the days of the fair and the village green. The next was an example of the difficult exercises which seem so simple when skilfully done. It was remarkable for the correlation of leg, arm and hand movement. The programme ended with a series of pyramids by the women’s classes.