MAORI CABARET.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17220, 1 October 1927, Page 15 (Supplement)

MAORI CABARET.

+ A DELIGHTFUL ENTERTAINMENT. : Friday of last week at the Alexandra Hall will long be remembered by those 1 who attended the Maori Cabaret, as ' one of the most enjoyable and entertaining evenings they have ever spent. The hall was artistically decorated with festoons of lycopodium and nikau palms, and so well was the stage set that one. almost imagined that one was gazing on a little scene from a Maori pa. At the hack was draped a huge banner with painted thereon a Maori whare seen through a vista of nikau palms, and in front of this and adorned in Maori mats, sat members of the orchestra, who on stringed instruments provided music as excellent as it. was quaint, for it had that plaintive air so characteristic of native music, yet. leaving nothing to be desired in rhythm. The number of encores after every dance indicated the appreciation of the dancers. The order of the evening, of course, was dancing, but after practically every dance Tc Plica’s troupe of Maori performers delighted the pakchas present with Maori items performed in full native costume. A Picturesque Effect. The effect as the Maori performers filed into the hall for each item from behind a screen of nikau palms was most picturesque. The first item was a Maori war dance and haka—most terrifying in ils reality—performed by half-a-dozen stalwart and tattooed warriors. Then followed canoe dances and waiatas, ail of which were beautifully performed and enthusiastically received, but the star item was the poi dance by about a> dozen Maori maidens, faultlessly attired in native garb, even to the plaited bandeau and huia feather. Their grace and rhythm of movement brought forth applause which was not satisfied until the maid--1 ens had returned lime and again. The iahle decorations were gorgeous and were artistically carried out with purple and gold flowers arranged in huge epergnes, and under this royal canopy there appeared to be every conceivable delicacy and. savoury. At the conclusion of the evening Te L

Puea, per medium of Mr E. F. ClaytonGreene, thanked those present for their patronage. The singing of the National Anthem then brought a most enjoyable evening to a close. The entertainment was in the nature of charily, the object being to raise funds for a convalescent hostel which it is the ambition of Te Puea to build i in her pa at Ngaruawahia. ; For this purpose Te Puea has trained her troupe of performers, who 1 on Monday will leave on a tour of New Zealand to deliver at the various towns they visit similar entertainments to the one so successfully given here. A Satisfactory Result. Te Puea realises that to a large exfont her success was due to the help she received from the energetic band of Hamilton ladies who assisted her, (lie personnel of which was: Mesdames Douglas, Cranwell, Y. Chilly, Jlurdwood, Gresham, Yaldcr, Colin Taylor, A. R. Brown; Misses E. Hammond, M. Wilkinson Sister While. Among Ihose present I noticed:— Mesdames H. Douglas, nigger brown crepe dc r.iiine and ecru lace; Yaldcr, black charmeuse; Cranwell, black frock, headed with crystal; A. B. Brown, floral georgette: Hurwood, green charmeuse; J. G. Taylor, black lace frock: Gresham, black georgette; Yore Chilly, black georgette; Voider, senr., black satin; Reid, blue charmeuse; A. English, black and silver; Swales, peacock blue, trimmed with fur; Mears, fuchsia cropc; Spencer, pink and silver; W. Jenkins, cream charmeuse and gold lace; Worley, black and silver; McNicol, Oriental tinsel frock; Crimp, blue headed georjgette; G. Smith, mauve, lace over--I dress; A. Griffiths, jade green georjgettc; W. Hume, black charmeuse; j Misses M. Wilkinson, black and gold | beaded frock; E. Hammond, black ‘georgette; Fannin (Hastings), beaded i frock of pink and silver; Rutherford, i : embroidered Spanish shawl; Jackson I I (Cambridge), black lace; Burley, pink i headed georgette; Coventry,- black georgette; Sweeney, primrose taffeta; I Allen (Morrinsville), black georgette j with fur trimmings; R. Vickery, blue | shot taffeta; N. Monckton, black ! panne; J. Banks, pink taffeta; N. ' Voider, black embossed velvet; Wilj son, shell pink frock; King, jade georgette; Chilly, cyclamen taffeta; B. ! Vickery, green taffeta; King, black j velvet. j