"We have to protect our work": Kot-Schmierer Goecke also loses his job in Mannheim

The choreographer Marco Goecke, who is not particularly open to criticism, has now lost a job at the Nationaltheater Mannheim after his engagement in Hanover. It doesn’t fail because of the artistic aspect, rather the “absolutely unacceptable” dog excrement attack on a journalist is decisive.

The National Theater Mannheim – NTM for short – draws consequences from the dog excrement attack by choreographer Marco Goecke on a critic. A premiere planned as a three-part evening – “Young Lovers” – on April 15 will take place without Goecke’s work “Woke up blind”, the NTM announced. “At the moment we have to do without his piece and find peace again in order to protect and be able to do our actual work,” emphasized Stephan Thoss, director of dance at the NTM. Thoss emphasized that Goecke was artistically far ahead of him and many other colleagues. “But the incident is absolutely unacceptable.” Any form of violence – whether verbal, physical or otherwise – is to be rejected.

As ballet director of the Hanover State Opera, Goecke smeared a critic of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” newspaper in the foyer of the opera house with dog excrement at the premiere of the ballet evening “Faith – Love – Hope” in mid-February. The 50-year-old had previously accused her of always writing “bad, personal” reviews. The State Opera then terminated Goecke’s contract as ballet director with immediate effect and by mutual agreement.

Goecke, who has been resident choreographer at the Stuttgart Ballet for many years, is an internationally acclaimed artist. His oeuvre comprises more than 60 choreographies, which are in the repertoire of the Stuttgart Ballet, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris and the Berlin State Ballet, among others.

Since 2019 he has been an artist in residence at the Stuttgart dance company Gauthier Dance. The choreographies he created for Gauthier Dance remained an integral part of the repertoire, it said in a recent statement. A five-minute short film by Goecke will not be shown in the production “15 Years Alive” from March due to the current situation. The Bavarian State Ballet in Munich recently announced that two works by the winner of the German Dance Prize 2022 remained in the program.