20 Facts About Marco Goecke

Marco Goecke was born on 12 April 1972 and is a German choreographer.

Marco Goecke was the director of Hanover State Ballet between 2019 and 2023, and had held positions at Stuttgart Ballet, Scapino Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater and Gauthier Dance.

Marco Goecke had additionally choreographed works for Paris Opera Ballet, Berlin State Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Vienna State Ballet, among others.

Marco Goecke's father worked in an office at a factory and his mother as a secretary.

Marco Goecke studied at the Ballet Academy Cologne, the Tanzinstitut Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung in Munich, and from 1989 to 1995 at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

In 1997, Marco Goecke began dancing professionally with Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, then at the ballet of Hagen Theatre.

In 2005 Marco Goecke became the choreographer in residence at the Stuttgart Ballet.

Marco Goecke's work is noted for its focus on the upper body; costuming is typically black trousers with taupe tops on the women and bare chests for men.

Marco Goecke often includes items spread on or falling onto the stage or being tossed by dancers such as feathers, rose petals, balloons, or dead leaves or flour.

Marco Goecke's Nijinski was called out by the 2022 Deutscher Tanzpreis jury as a milestone in his career.

On 12 February 2023, Marco Goecke smeared his dog's feces on the face of Wiebke Huster, a dance critic whose mostly-negative review of the Nederlands Dans Theater premiere of his work In the Dutch Mountains had appeared in that day's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Marco Goecke confronted Huster during the intermission of a show including one of his works at the Hanover State Ballet, telling her that her piece had caused people to cancel their season tickets, and threatening to ban her from the premises.

Marco Goecke then pulled out a bag of feces and smeared them on her face.

Marco Goecke said the review had angered him, and that Huster had written only two positive pieces about his work in the twenty years she'd been covering it.

Marco Goecke said that critics should not write in "a personal and hateful way".

Berman stated it was because Marco Goecke's works are "incomparable" and her belief that his works should be viewed separate from the incident.

Marco Goecke was awarded the Prix Dom Perignon at Hamburg for his 2003 Blushing.

The 2016 documentary Thin Skin said that 'outside of the rehearsal room, Marco Goecke is difficult, demanding and self-centered.

Marco Goecke is preoccupied with a feeling of "otherness," and suffers from panic attacks that cast a shadow on his life and work'.

Marco Goecke is known for wearing sunglasses at most times and has explained that he is constantly being observed and wears the glasses to protect himself.