MORE JITTERBUGS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32309, 6 September 1943, Page 8

MORE JITTERBUGS

POLYNESIAN NATIVES AN AMERICAN TEACHER ia> Polynesians on a small island, a dot in the great Pacific Ocean, are learning to jitterbug, and they have vantage of an experienced teacher, so they are making rapid progress. Their teacher is Sergeant Nicholas John Marconi, from Philadelphia, who before going overseas danced and entertained in clubs in various pa!rts of the United States. Arrived at the South Sea island. Marconi found weekly dances being held in the villages, and naturally he went along to one. The girls there saw him jitterbug for the first time, and left their boy friends to crowd round him—it was a mild sensation. They stood round him giggling their astonishment, and 'then began following his movements. Soon the whole crowd was trying to jitterbug. Marconi says the natives pick up dances very -quickly—in fact, they learn more quickly than American girls. This may be because they start dancing very early in life, as the traditional form of recreation. Being hospitable people, these natives are quick to appreciate whatever the soldiers do to make their lives happier. Their usual way of showing their appreciation is by dance and song. They eagerly taught Marconi some of their own South Sea dances. Furthermore, they are always bringing him coconuts, fruit and woven mats, and recently presented him with a horse.