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Ten artificial-looking gentlemen in cutaway coats, white gloves and spats, red ribbons of honor, assembled around a green baize table one evening last week in Manhattan to settle the affairs of the world. True diplomats all, they greeted one another suavely, appeared profoundly impressed by the speech of a pompous longbeard. Then they started wrangling. But when they opened their mouths no words came out and their faces, which were only masks, looked extra-foolish and empty. Two pianos playing a trivial tango provided the only sounds until the diplomats, unable to argue away their differences, drew cap pistols out of their pockets, fired them off and started a war. The war was the occasion for a grim succession of deaths and for the U. S. debut of Kurt Jooss (pronounced Yoce), the 31 -year-old German dancer who created The Green Table ballet and trained his own company to mime it. Darkly malevolent in a black helmet and sooty makeup, Kurt Jooss was the war-god Death, stalking imperiously through scenes of battle and rape, destroying sol diers and their womenfolk, sparing not even the paunchy little profiteer who had danced around cockily for a time. When the curtain fell, only the false-faced diplomats were left, grouped around the green table again, bickering as they had bickered before. New Yorkers found it one of the most exciting and original dances of their time, and cheered accordingly. But most people did not know that they had Adolf Hitler to thank for their chance to see The Green Table. Until last spring Kurt Jooss and his dancers were living in Essen, performing occasionally at the local opera house. Six of the 25 members of the company are Jews, including Fritz, Cohen who wrote The Green Table music, played one of the pianos last week. The anti-Semitic drive made them decide that it was time to leave Germany and try their luck abroad.
*Nijinsky had one answer for the countless people who asked him how he accomplished his leap. Said he: "It is not difficult. You have just to go up and pause there a little."