Kurt Jooss
choreography / Folkwang Tanztheater / The Green Table
(1901-1979)
Kurt Jooss was an important German modern dancer and choreographer. He began his career in the 1920s, dancing lead roles in the choreography of Rudolf von Laban. Jooss is noted for establishing several dance companies
Jooss disliked plot-less dances and preferred themes that addressed moral issues. His most important choreographic work, The Green Table (1932), won first prize at an international competition for new choreography in Paris in 1932. It was a powerful anti-war statement, made just a year before Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. It is still performed by dance companies around the world. Another work, Pandora (1944), contained disturbing images of human disaster and tragedy, and was later interpreted as foretelling the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan a year later.
The Green Table was created in 1932 .Lasting about 30 minutes and subtitled "A dance of death in eight scenes", The Green Table is a commentary on the futility of war and the horrors it causes.
It opens with a group of diplomats (the Gentlemen in Black) having a discussion around a rectangular table covered with a green cloth. They end up pulling guns from their pockets and shooting in the air, thus symbolizing the declaration of war.
The next six scenes portray different aspects of wartime: the separation from loved ones in The Farewells, war itself in The Battle and The Partisan, loneliness and misery in The Refugees, the emotional void and the atmosphere of forced entertainment in The Brothel, and, finally, the psychologically beaten and wounded survivors in The Aftermath. The ballet then ends as it began, with the "Gentlemen in Black" around the green table.
The next six scenes portray different aspects of wartime: the separation from loved ones in The Farewells, war itself in The Battle and The Partisan, loneliness and misery in The Refugees, the emotional void and the atmosphere of forced entertainment in The Brothel, and, finally, the psychologically beaten and wounded survivors in The Aftermath. The ballet then ends as it began, with the "Gentlemen in Black" around the green table.
Throughout these episodes the figure of Death is triumphant, portrayed as a skeleton moving in a forceful and robot-like way, relentlessly claiming its victims.
The dance ends with a repeat of the opening scene, a device the choreographer uses to show his mistrust in the talks of the diplomats; completely indifferent to the ravages of war, they continue their hypocritical negotiations.
The dance ends with a repeat of the opening scene, a device the choreographer uses to show his mistrust in the talks of the diplomats; completely indifferent to the ravages of war, they continue their hypocritical negotiations.
The Green Table reflects a concern for social issues and the problems of that era (shared by many artists contemporary with Jooss) such as political corruption and militaristic policies.
Its style, with its cutting irony, caricature, and boldness of language, has much in common with Expressionism, which flourished in the first decade of the 20th century. The cynical structure of the dance, for example, is a formal expression of this dry humour: the diplomats repeat their routine with total indifference to the real consequences of their decisions. The seriousness of their discussion is negated by the music that Jooss chose to accompany this scene: a playful tango. He also dressed the characters in masks, which gave them a grotesque look, and created movements that are exaggerations of naturalistic movement, such as gesticulating while talking, or nervously pacing up and down while thinking.
Its style, with its cutting irony, caricature, and boldness of language, has much in common with Expressionism, which flourished in the first decade of the 20th century. The cynical structure of the dance, for example, is a formal expression of this dry humour: the diplomats repeat their routine with total indifference to the real consequences of their decisions. The seriousness of their discussion is negated by the music that Jooss chose to accompany this scene: a playful tango. He also dressed the characters in masks, which gave them a grotesque look, and created movements that are exaggerations of naturalistic movement, such as gesticulating while talking, or nervously pacing up and down while thinking.
The costumes and props were chosen for their symbolic qualities: a flag for the hopeful soldier, a red dress coupled with a white scarf for the partisan, or the skeleton-like costume of Death.
Jooss mastered the visual outlook of his compositions with great skill; again the scene of The Gentlemen in Black provides an example of how the choreographer directed the audience to focus on a particular point of interest, which may be a dancer located on a higher plane than the rest of the group, or someone keeping still while everybody else is moving (or vice versa), or simply a convergence of the compositional lines.
Jooss mastered the visual outlook of his compositions with great skill; again the scene of The Gentlemen in Black provides an example of how the choreographer directed the audience to focus on a particular point of interest, which may be a dancer located on a higher plane than the rest of the group, or someone keeping still while everybody else is moving (or vice versa), or simply a convergence of the compositional lines.
His use of space for expressive purposes, as well as the foundation of his technique, stemmed from his formative training as Rudolf Laban's student and assistant. Together they explored the interrelation between space and the body, with its various movement qualities reflecting different mental states and feelings. Jooss integrated Laban's findings and his free-style approach to dancing with the discipline of classical ballet training. The result was a new technique that emphasizes the use of the body as an expressive whole.
This technique was to be absorbed and further developed by Jooss' students, among whom were Birgit Cullberg and Pina Bausch.
The Green Table is a mature example of this technique. It uses elements of classical ballet, such as turn-out, demi-pointe, extensions, turns, arabesques, and other ballet steps. However, there is no pointe work or any other feature that could suggest virtuoso display. The gracefulness, elegance, ethereal quality, and other affectations of classical ballet are eliminated.
Kurt Jooss made a very famous piece called the green table. He was a german dancer and choreographer. He ad leading dance roles with Rudolph Laban and established several dance companies.
ReplyDeleteHe addressed moral issues in his works. He liked to have themes. His Green table piece was about anti war and was 30 minutes long. He had eight scenes known as the dance of death.
In the dance there are gentlemen around a green table, having some sort of discussion which leads them to pulling guns out of there pockets declaring war. The other scenes each symbolise different parts of war, for example leaving loved ones behind. The ending is the same as the beginning, with them all around the table.
A figure of death appears throughout moving in a robot way, claiming its victims.
The green table deals with social and political issues of that era.
He uses dry humour in his work and sarcasm, which is his attitude towards these people. the dancers are in masks to give them a ugly look, and they exaggerate their simple movements such as gestures like pointing.
His work uses some elements of ballet, like extensions and other ballet steps but no pointe work. The gracefulness of classical ballet is not present.