No decisive action, change, or resolution is suggested, and in framing the "Dance of Death" with the stalemated parentheses of a diplomatic conference, Jooss seems to say none can be expected.
[1] Through archetypal characters Jooss revisualizes human life as a function of a larger cosmology, an enduring and spiritual sphere where perhaps even war and death can be seen in a more comprehensible scale.
It opens with a group of diplomats (the Gentlemen in Black, portrayed by the other characters in the piece, with the exception of Death) having a discussion around a rectangular table covered with a green cloth.
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 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 inspiration for the ballet, originally conceived as a solo, was provided by the medieval Lubecker Totentanz, a sequence of pictures portraying different types of people dancing with Death.
Choreographer, composer, and designer combine their efforts to produce a coherent work in which all the elements, in harmony with each other, convey the feelings and ideas more powerfully.
Examples are found in the visual arts, for instance in the work of George Grosz and the Herzfelde brothers, or in the theatre of Erwin Piscator and his dramaturgical collective.
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.
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.
In contrast is the style of the Profiteer: he has a swift and agile way of moving, his back usually curved, his cunning nature further accentuated by the indirectness of his focus and his multi-directional spatial patterns.
Such elements combine to make The Green Table a truly innovative work and the depth and universality of its humanistic content give it a timeless and meaningful quality.
However, unlike Wigman, Gert, and Berber, Kurt Jooss directly employs the imagery of the processions found in traditional paintings depicting this "Dance of Death" or "Danse Macabre".
With a personification of Death, a skeleton, in front, they lead the humans, dead, arms linked with one another, in some direction, mimicking a type of social dance.
Following "The Farewells", "The Battle", "The Partisan", "The Refugees, and "The Brothel", the physical manifestation of the Death's foreboding figure marches on stage to initiate the final scene: "The Aftermath".