Letters to The Editor

Te Ao Hou, December 1962, Page 6

Letters to The Editor The Editor, ‘Te Ao Hou’. As one of the relatively uninitiated but enthusiastic audience members at many Maori concerts, may I add my plea to the suggestions made by Alan Armstrong in your September issue? Would performers on stage, men in particular, please not act as if most of the show was an amusement for slightly feeble minded children? Time and time again an otherwise enjoyable performance is marred by those in the rear who give the impression that they are fairly bored with the programme, and are able only to survive the evening by passing derogatory remarks to one another, or by repeating the refrain backwards. The fine points of technique, of gesture and of mood, we know little about, but movement, timing, costuming—they are so obvious, speak so loudly of able or slipshod preparation … The public carries away an image—that image is all too often the only one they can call on when discussing Maori culture … Whatever it is that's at stake, whether tribal or racial mana or Sir Apirana's Maoritanga, something has to be done fairly quickly. The concert party is a salient as it were, a cape thrusting out into a sea of—well, I'll leave that to the individual to decide. A. D. Chadwick (Rerewhakaaitu) The Editor, ‘Te Ao Hou’. Thank you for publishing the Maori Fishing Calendar by Mr Taumaunu which you had in the last issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’. I was very glad to see this as I have been trying to get hold of one for a long time. It may be worthwhile reminding your readers, however, that if they do not live in the Gisborne (Turanga) district they may have to make some adjustments to the times Mr Taumaunu gives. This is because they depend to some extent on the tides, and these of course vary in different parts of the country. J.K.W. (Auckland)