German ballet director has been suspended after smearing a critic with dog feaces after a bad review.
Reports indicate that Marco Goecke was infuriated by Wiebke Hüster’s criticism of one of his performances.
He is accused of confronting Ms. Hüster and rubbing dog feaces on her face during a commercial break.
Her employer, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), said that authorities were investigating the incident.
Ms. Hüster likened the original assessment of Mr. Goecke’s performance of In The Dutch Mountains to being “alternately driven mad and dead by boredom.”
She said she was “in shock” following what she described as a “brutal” encounter.
“When I realized what had occurred, I screamed out in terror. I can assure you that it was not an act of spontaneity since he had planned it. I consider it an affront to press freedom ”
During the confrontation, Mr. Goecke indicated that he believed the unfavorable review had cost subscribers to the Hanover Opera House. He also threatened to bar her from the facility.
Mr. Goecke has been suspended immediately for breaking the conduct regulations of the Hanover State Opera with his “impulsive reaction.”
According to them, Mr. Goecke “so gravely damaged the State Ballet by frightening the audience, the house staff, and the general public”
The statement said that Ms. Hüster’s “personal integrity was flagrantly breached.”
Ms. Hüster’s tabloid, FAZ, responded to the incident as “an attempt to intimidate our free, critical perspective of the art.”
Mr. Goecke was awarded the German Dance Prize in 2022 and has served as the artistic director of the Hanover Theatre since 2019.
