A journalist from the FAZ was attacked with excrement by Marco Goecke, ballet director in Hanover. Apparently he didn’t like one of her reviews. The State Theater apologized.
The ballet director of the Hanover State Opera, Marco Goecke, he is the winner of the German Dance Prize 2022, has at a premiere the dance critic of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Wiebke Hüster, smeared with dog excrement. 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 Hannover General and the New press. A spokeswoman for the State Theater also confirmed that the substance was dog feces. Goecke’s management and the theater promised that he would comment on the incident himself in the coming days.
The journalist stated that before the attack, Goecke accused her of writing reviews with personal attacks. The FAZ describes that the ballet director initially threatened her with a “ban from the house” and then accused her of being responsible for canceling subscriptions in Hanover. According to the report, he was provoked by a review the journalist wrote about one of his plays. Crossing borders reveals the disturbed relationship between an artist and criticism, writes the FAZ.
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.