German Ballet Director Suspended After Assaulting Critic With Dog Feces

Marco Goecke, a German ballet director, has been suspended from the Hanover State Opera after smearing dog feces on a critic's face following his review of one of his shows.

Goecke allegedly confronted the critic, Wiebke Hüster, during the intermission of another performance. The police are reportedly investigating the incident.

Ms. Hüster's original review of the production, In The Dutch Mountains, was described in the review as "alternately driven mad and killed by boredom". The critic told the BBC she was in "shock" following the "brutal" attack.

The BBC reports that Mr Goecke said "he believed the damning review had cost the Hanover Opera House subscriptions and threatened to ban her from the opera house during the confrontation."

The Hanover State Opera said Mr. Goecke "extremely unsettled the audience, the employees of the house and the general public and thus massively damaged the State Ballet."

Goecke has been the ballet director at the Hanover theatre since 2019, and was the 2022 recipient of the German Dance Prize.