A ballet director attacked a journalist who gave him a negative review with dog feces

“Saturday evening, on the sidelines of the premiere of the ballet faith love hope (faith love hope) at the Opera House in Hanover, a disgusting incident took place – reported the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (HE DOES)–. During the intermission, the director of the ballet from Hanover, Marco Goeckefirst verbally and then physically assaulted our dance critic, Wiebke Huster”.

The media reported that Goecke He stood in front of the journalist, who did not know him personally, to ask him what he was doing at the premiere. The director, presumably annoyed by previous reviews, “first threatened to ban him entry and then blamed him for being responsible for subscription cancellations”, says the chronicle of the HE DOES. After “he took out a bag full of animal feces and smeared the contents on our reviewer’s face”.

A police spokesman in Hanover, northern Germany, confirmed that a 57-year-old woman had filed a complaint. for smearing his face with dog feces. The excrement could not be confiscated, so the police will have to base their case on the testimony, the source added.

For its part, the Hannover Opera said that it “deeply regrets the escalation” and apologized to the journalist. The establishment also has suspended Marco Goecke and banned his access to the facilities of the theatre, as announced in a press release: “Marco Goecke’s impulsive reaction to the journalist violated all the principles of conduct of the Hannover State Opera and thus caused great uncertainty among the public, the employees of the house and the general public. In doing so, he severely damaged the State Opera and the Hanover State Ballet. Therefore, the theater management suspends it with immediate effect and prohibits access to the facilities until further notice.

This Tuesday, the director of the ballet spoke about the fact in an interview with the regional channel NDR. Despite the fact that the choice of means of protest against Hysterical “It was not ideal” – he admits Goecke– was a reaction to years of “destructive criticism” that had even reached the personal level. “When you’re a public figure and for years you see your work smeared by a journalist, you say that’s the price you have to pay to be in public life. But after a certain point, I’m of a different opinion,” he said.

When he ran into the journalist, who had published a devastating review of one of his new creations that day, he wanted to talk to her, he said, but Hysterical he reacted arrogantly and condescendingly, which led to his outburst. “She’s been throwing shit at me for years too”reasoned Goecke.

According to the victim herself, after a brief verbal confrontation during which Goecke Accusing him of being responsible for the decrease in the number of subscribers to the theater, the choreographer opened a bag containing dog excrement and began to smear it on his face before fleeing. It is assumed that the person responsible for the contents of the bag is a dachshund named Gustav and Goecke’s inseparable companion for 14 years.

Marco Goecke He is being investigated by the police for an alleged crime of injury and insult. At the same time, although the Hannover State Theater banned him from entering the building, they offered him the opportunity to explain himself before he faced further disciplinary action. The institution also declared itself “horrified” by the incident, during which the journalist, to whom the Theater has already apologized, was “affected in her personal integrity in an unspeakable way”.

For his part, he Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung evaluated the actions of Goecke of “attempted intimidation” in front of an independent art critic and claimed that they reveal the artist’s “disturbed relationship” with critics.

The 50-year-old ballet director has won numerous awards, including the German Dance Prize 2022, and his works have been performed on stages all over the world.

With information from 20minutos.es and EFE

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