Hanover
Scandal: ballet boss smears critic with dog feces
Marco Goecke, ballet director of the Hanover State Opera, is standing in the foyer of the house. photo
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
At the premiere of the ballet evening “Faith – Love – Hope”, the ballet director of the Hanover State Opera smeared a journalist with dog excrement. She has filed a complaint.
The ballet director of the Hanover State Opera, Marco Goecke, smeared the critic of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, Wiebke Hüster, with dog excrement at a premiere. That said the person concerned on Sunday of the German Press Agency. You have filed a complaint.
In a statement, the State Theater confirmed the incident at the premiere of the ballet evening “Faith – Love – Hope” on Saturday and apologized. Labor law steps against Goecke are now being examined, it said. At first, various media in Hanover reported – including the “Hannoversche Allgemeine” and the “Neue Presse”.
A spokeswoman for the State Theater also confirmed that the substance was dog feces. The journalist stated that before the attack, Goecke accused her of writing reviews with personal attacks. Goecke’s management and the theater promised that he would comment on the incident himself in the coming days.
Director Laura Berman explained: “We contacted the journalist immediately after the incident and apologized to her personally and publicly.” The Hanover State Opera is an open place of respectful cooperation and exchange. “We are of the opinion that calm and diligence are now required. We will examine the employment law steps against ballet director Marco Goecke, advise them together and then act on this internal personnel matter.” We very much regret that the audience was disturbed by this incident.