Award-winning German ballet director smears dog feces in journalist’s face after ‘scathing review’

The whole thing, however, cost the ballet director dearly. The state opera immediately suspended Goecke after his “impulsive act” because his action violated the rules of conduct of the house. He is said to have “extremely unsettled the public, the employees of the house and the general public and thus greatly damaged the reputation of the state ballet”.

Goecke has been director of the Hannover Theater since 2019 and won the German Dance Prize in 2022.