The Green Table

Chicago's Joffrey Ballet is to be congratulated for this revival of renowned German choreographer Kurt Jooss's antiwar piece, which premiered at a Paris competition in 1932 and brought its young creator international recognition. Although one can interpret The Green Table specifically as a commentary on the diplomatic blunders that led to World War I, the ballet embodies a more general critique of the human inclination to aggression. After an introductory sequence of masked gentlemen arguing around the titular table—goaded by the figure of Death to draw guns and fire—the dance transitions to scenes illustrating the impact of warfare: the separation of soldiers from families, the destructiveness of combat, the plight of the dispossessed, the desperate efforts of combatants to forget the horrors they've endured during respites from fighting, and the physical and psychological aftermath of their experience. Finally, we return to the opening, with diplomats again engaged in furious dispute, on the verge of yet another war. Performed to a spare but energetic score for two pianos by Frederic Cohen, the work retains its freshness and power in this 2000 studio staging directed by Jooss's daughter, Anna Markard. Presented in LPCM stereo, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)