The suspended ballet director Marco Goecke has commented on his dog excrement attack on a journalist. “I think the choice of funds wasn’t great, absolutely,” said the 50-year-old in an interview with NDR Lower Saxony. It is socially “definitely not recognized or respected” if one resorts to such means.
“And I’m also a person who has never done anything like this, so of course I’m a bit shocked about myself,” said Goecke. But he also justified himself as a person, his work, and his business, which had been soiled over the years.
At a premiere in the State Theater in Hanover, Goecke smeared the critic of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ), Wiebke Hüster, 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.
Ballet director Goecke was then suspended and was banned from the house, as the Hanover State Theater announced on Monday. At first, various media in Hanover reported – including the “Hannoversche Allgemeine” and the “Neue Presse”.
Police are investigating for insult and assault. A police spokeswoman told the Evangelical Press Service on Monday that witnesses would be heard first. According to the state theater, a dispute between Goecke and a critic escalated on Saturday evening. The FAZ reported that Goecke stood in the way of critic Wiebke Hüster in the foyer and slapped her face with animal excrement, which he pulled out of a paper bag.
During the first break, the ballet director first asked the critic what she was doing in the premiere of the piece. Then he threatened her with being banned from the house and accused her of being responsible for canceling subscriptions. Eventually he got more and more upset and became violent.
The ballet director and the critic had not known each other personally before then. Apparently the choreographer felt provoked by a review.
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.
According to the police, the 57-year-old critic appeared at a police station in downtown Hanover after the incident and filed a complaint. According to her, “dog feces were smeared on her face,” the spokeswoman said. The investigations into the case are still “in the early stages,” she added. The dog excrement was not secured.
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 for respectful cooperation and exchange.
“We believe 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.
The “FAZ” reacted to the attack with clear words. “We take the deliberate disparagement and humiliation resulting from the prepared excrement attack very seriously,” says an article in Monday’s current issue.
“The incident redeems in a frighteningly actual way what is now apparently often thought and said about criticism and critics in art circles,” the “FAZ” article continues. “Goecke’s crossing of borders reveals the disturbed relationship of an artist to criticism”.
Frank Rieger, state chairman of the German Association of Journalists (DJV) in Lower Saxony, spoke of an attack on press freedom.
