A choreographer has been suspended after reportedly smearing dog faeces on the face of a critic following a bad review.
Marco Goecke’s new show In The Dutch Mountains had been panned by Wiebke Huster, the dance critic at German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
She had said that watching the ballet, which recently opened at a theatre in The Hague, was like being “alternately driven mad and killed by boredom”.
The review was published over the weekend and Goecke had spotted Hüster at another of his shows – Hanover State Opera ballet company’s production of Glaube – Liebe – Hoffnung (Faith – Love – Hope) – on Sunday.
According to a report in FAZ, he had approached her in the theatre foyer during the interval, threatened to ban her from the ballet, and accused her of being responsible for people cancelling season tickets.
He then took a bag filled with dog excrement and smeared it over her face before walking away.
Goecke, who is the state ballet’s chief choreographer, has been suspended from his role and banned from the theatre.
‘A duty of care’
Hanover State Opera said: “This is not only about the future of Marco Goecke, but also about the future of the over 30-strong ballet ensemble.
“The theatre management has a duty of care towards every member of the ensemble.”
The organisation also said it had apologised to Hüster, saying her “personal integrity” had been violated “in an unspeakable way” by Goecke’s “impulsive reaction”.
The choreographer has been given a few days to apologise “comprehensively” and to explain himself to the theatre’s management “before further steps are initiated”, they added.
‘Humiliating incident’
FAZ said police were investigating what had happened, adding: “This humiliating incident is not only an act of bodily harm but also an attempt to intimidate our free, critical view of art.”
Goecke, 50, has been director of the ballet company in Hanover since 2019.
German media reported that the faeces used in the alleged attack was produced by his pet dachshund, Gustav, just minutes earlier.
