Kurt Joos was born January 12, 1901 in Wasseralfingen, Germany. He discovered dance after considering careers in photography and music. From 1920 to 1924, he studied under and danced lead roles in the choreography of Rudolf von Laban. Soon after he left Laban’s company, Kurt established his own dance company called, Die Neue Tanzbühne. He also joined a group of artists and opened a new dance school called "Westfälische Akademie für Bewegung, Sprache und Musik" in 1925. He moved the "Westfälische Akademie" to Essen in 1927 and it was renamed the Folkwang Schule. He is best known for choreographic piece The Green Table, created in 1932, which won first prize at an international competition for new choreography held by the Archives Internationales de la Danse in Paris. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet performed it in 1974. When Adolph Hitler took power in Germany, Kurt and his company escaped to Paris, and eventually established a new home base in England, where he opened a school at Dartington Hall in Devon. He left England in 1949 to return to Essen, Germany. He continued to teach and choreograph for another 19 years before retiring, with the exception of two years spent at the Düsseldorf Opera beginning in 1954. Kurt Joos passed away May 22, 1979 in Heilbronn, West Germany.