Ballet director Marco Goecke smears dog poop on critic

A German ballet director has been suspended for smearing dog feces all over the face of a newspaper critic who had written a scathing review of his recent production.

Marco Goecke, the ballet director and head choreographer of the Hannover State Opera, confronted Wiebke Hüster. the dance critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper, in the crowded theater foyer during intermission Saturday, the publication reported.

According to the paper’s account of the incident, Goecke threatened to ban her from the Hannover opera house and accused her of being responsible for people canceling season tickets.

He then produced a paper bag filled with animal feces and smeared her face with the noxious contents.

Hüster identified the substance as dog poop and said she had filed a criminal complaint, German news agency dpa reported.

Goecke was apparently upset about Hüster’s unflattering review of his new ballet “In the Dutch Mountains,” which was published in the FAZ on the day of the premiere in Hannover.

Hüster wrote that watching the show, which recently opened at Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague, was like being “alternately driven mad and killed by boredom.”

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In a statement posted on its website, the opera house said that Hüster’s “personal integrity” was violated “in an unspeakable way.” It said that it contacted her immediately after the incident to apologize.

It said that Goecke’s “impulsive reaction” violated the ground rules of the theater and that “he caused massive damage to the Hannover State Opera and State Ballet.” As a result, it said, he is being suspended effective immediately and banned from the opera house until further notice.

Goecke has been given the next few days to apologize “comprehensively” and explain himself to theater management “before further steps are initiated,” it added.

Hüster’s employer railed against Goecke’s conduct, arguing that it was not only “an act of bodily harm,” but also “an attempt to intimidate our free, critical view of art.”

With Post Wires