At the premiere of the ballet evening “Faith – Love – Hope”, the ballet director of the Hanover State Opera smeared a journalist with dog excrement.
Christophe Gateau/dpa
Hannover–At a premiere, the ballet director of the Hanover State Opera, Marco Goecke, smeared the critic of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 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. Labor law steps against Goecke are now being examined, it said. At first, various media in Hanover reported – including the Hannoversche Allgemeine and the Neue Presse.
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.
After the attack by the Hanover ballet boss Marco Goecke on the FAZ dance critic Wiebke Hüster during the break of a ballet evening, Frank Rieger, state chairman of the German Association of Journalists in Lower Saxony, calls for a clear reaction from those responsible
— DJV Lower Saxony (@DJVNieders) February 12, 2023
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.