The significance of "The Green Table"

In 1931 Jooss devised his most famous ballet, The Green Table, which won first prize in the Concours de Choreographie, hosted by Les Archives International de la Danse in Paris.  The ballet, an anti-war piece, has been revived since by the Birmingham Royal Ballet and is still pertinent today as it was when first performed.  It was choreographed in Labanotation, a system developed by Rudolf von Laban who was the ballet master of Jooss.

Scholarly Journal Article

During World War II

Nazi Germany

The Holocaust

On the brink of World War II, German choreographer Kurt Jooss arrived in New York with his company to perform. Before curtain, Jooss learned that some black audience members had been barred from their seats. Jooss told the theater administration that unless they amended their whites-only policy, there would be no show. The theater obliged and the show went on. It was this sense of injustice that fueled Jooss’ artistry and led to a new form of dance theater, which paved the way for the work of Pina Bausch and choreographers working today, like Suzanne Linke and Mats Ek.

After WWII ended, Jooss returned to Germany and resumed his position as dance director of the Folkwang School, and he remained there until 1968. During this period, he added ballet to the curriculum and hosted like-minded teachers Antony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino and Pearl Lang to give classes and set choreography. He established a post-graduate program with a focus on performance and composition. It was in that program that Pina Bausch presented her first choreographic work. Today, the Folkwang University of the Arts continues to be a major center for dance education, and students from all over the world come to study the elements of Tanztheater.

"The Green Table"

The Green Table is a ballet by the German choreographer Kurt Jooss and his most popular work, depicting the futility of peace negotiations of the 1930s. It was the first work to be fully notated using kinetographyLaban (Labanotation). It is in the repertoire of ballet companies worldwide, where it has been staged by Jooss himself.

TheNewYorkTimes Comment

Personal Opinion

Kurt Jooss, he makes dance as a mirror, the essence of the art will never change, but spirit of the time will change with historical progress. Jooss unremitting to chase spirit of the time to mix it in his performance. He is a really great dancer on a 20th Century. I really appreciate his Innovative spirit, such as he mixed expressionistic modern-dance movements with fundamental ballet technique in his performance to be a new style. He is the most important leader of modern dance on a 20th century concert dance history,he leads the modern dance get better.

Development

  Rudolf Laban

                     

   Labanotation

Most Jooss’s early works tend to Laban's technique (Labanotation), Jooss began his dance training with Rudolf Laban in 1920 and quickly came to embody Laban's techniques.Jooss used narratives and modern theatre styles to make performable works of Dance Theatre, further developing the work of Laban and his system of notation. Within a year of leaving Laban, Jooss took the opportunity to establish his own dance company called, Die Neue Tanzbühne. It was here Jooss met Fritz Cohen, the Jewish composer who worked with Jooss on many of his famous pieces.

The Background about Kurt Jooss

Kurt Jooss was born in Jan. 12, 1901, Wasseralfingen. He was a German dancer, teacher, and choreographer whose dance dramas combined Expressionistic modern-dance movements with fundamental ballet technique. Jooss was noted for establishing several dance companies, including most notably, the Folkwang Tanztheater, in Essen.