Head choreographer and director of the Hanover State Opera, Marco Goecke, did the unthinkable when he smeared dog poo on veteran dance critic Wiebke Hüster, over the weekend.
According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hüster, gave one of Goecke’s productions a scathing review, labelling it “boring” and “disjointed”.
“Watching his new dance, ‘In the Dutch Mountains,’ audiences would feel like they’re either going insane or being killed by boredom,” Hüster wrote.
The incident took place last Saturday evening, during the premiere of the ballet show “Faith – Love – Hope” in the Hannover Opera House.
The publication reported that it was during the show interval that Goecke recognised the veteran dance critic among the audience and confronted her.
It is alleged that the chief choreographer started by verbally attacking the critic, accusing her of being responsible for theatregoers cancelling their membership subscriptions.
The Guardian reported that before she knew it, Hüster saw Goecke open his side bag and rub the dog poo in her face.
“When I felt what he had done, I screamed,” Hüster told the publication.
Shocked and embarrassed by the incident, it is alleged that Hüster drove to a police station in central Hannover where she reported the incident.
According to the New York Times, Hanover’s police department confirmed in a statement that it had opened an investigation into a case of bodily harm and insult.
“Immediately after the episode, we sought to contact the journalist and to apologise to her personally and also in public,” said the opera house’s artistic director, Laura Berman.
The Hanover State Opera said in a statement shared on its website that it had suspended Goecke from his position as ballet director, a role he held since 2019.
“With his impulsive reaction to the journalist, Marco Goecke violated all the rules of conduct of the Hannover State Opera and thus unsettled the audience, the employees of the house and the general public to the extreme,” read the statement.
“In doing so, he caused massive damage to the State Opera and the State Ballet in Hanover. Therefore, the theatre management suspended him with immediate effect and banned him from the house until further notice in order to protect the ballet ensemble and the state theatre from further damage.
“We would like to apologize to our premiere guests and our entire audience,” added the statement.
