Introdans Compagny: The Green Table

Introdans: 'The Green Table'
Part of the 'Oorlog en Vrede' performance.

September the 22^nd 20:15, the curtains are opening and I am about to check out the new Introdans performance ‘Oorlog en Vrede’. I am sitting frontrow at the Schouwburg in Arnhem, so I can easily see all the fast feet work that is about to be unleashed upon me. But I was not there for the first act. I came to see one of world’s most infamous modern dance pieces named ‘The Green Table’, which is being performed by Introdans tonight.

‘The Green Table’ is often being defined as a monument of modern dance history. The piece was created by Kurt Jooss in December 1931, in 1932 he won the International Competition of Choreography in Paris with this piece. The piece opens with, what appears to be, diplomats or politics (The gentlemen in Black) who are having a discussion around a table covered with a green cloth. The discussion heads up and they pull their guns out, this symbolizes the declaration of war. The following scenes are showing us the horrors that war causes, these scenes have names. The Farewells (loved ones getting separated), The Battle and The Partisan (war itself), The Refugees, The Brothel (the emptiness) and The Aftermath (heartbroken and wounded survivors). It ends with the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ still discussing politics like nothing had happened before. Noticeable is ‘Death’ throughout the scenes, he is portrayed as a skeleton who moves very staccato and robot like and claims his victims of the war. With the ending being the beginning Jooss shows us that he has no faith in the negotiations of the diplomats and comments on the war/politics as being meaningless, useless and causing much horror in society.

Back to September the 22^nd, the curtains are opening and the second halve of the night is about to start. It begins with this typical tango music which really gets stuck in your head and of course the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ are onstage having their argument. But directly noticeable for me were the politic aspects in the piece, as I described above. As silly and harmless the discussion of the men around the green table looked like, as sad, rude and hard the next scenes were. The use of pantomime during the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ scenes made the argument seem really silly, light and harmless. But the use of expressionistic Austrucktanz in the six scenes between the beginning and the end made it really clear what horror the war causes. As already have been said before, the robot-like movement of the person who appears to be ‘Death’ was very fitting to the character, because the movements made him as inhuman as ‘Death’ is.

This piece was made in 1931, the time of expressionism, social realism and the interbellum. Kurt Jooss combined all these factors in this work of art and that’s why it’s a monument in modern dance history. His work was very socially engaged, which is recognizable in the thematic, and the movements were very affected by expressionism, which comes from the heart and shows emotion. Through these movements he could easily show the pain that the war is/was causing. Even the use of a playful tango music was well over thought because it negates the seriousness of the discussion of the diplomats, Kurt Jooss points out the corruption in politcs. 

The dancers did their bowings, the curtains closed and I had an amazing night. If you are interested in more than just a dance piece without any social engagement in it, I can really recommend you to check out this piece. Introdans is doing a great job performing it and the dancing is as powerful as the theme is. This piece made me over think the concept of war again and I realized that it is indeed unnecessarily, full with corruption and only causing more harm than good. This piece is so socially engaged that I really had the feeling that I was getting sucked into it and understood clearly the commentary of the creator.  
I can truly understand why people call this a monument of modern dance!

Reviewed by Wouter Vertogen