The director of the Hanover Opera ballet attacked a critic of a major German daily with dog droppings, smearing her face with excrement, the newspaper, the police and the Opera said on Monday.
In a press release, the Opera announced that it was
"suspending with immediate effect"
Marco Goecke from his duties and
"banned him access"
to the institution
"in order to protect the ballet and the theater from any further damage"
.
"Saturday evening, on the sidelines of the premiere of the ballet
Glaube - Liebe - Hoffnung
at the Hanover Opera, a disgusting incident occurred"
, describes the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(FAZ), in a forum on its site.
“
During the intermission, the director of the Hanoverian ballet, Marco Goecke, first verbally and then physically attacked our dance critic, Wiebke Hüster,
reports the daily.
In the hall of the Opera, the fifty-year-old Goecke planted himself in front of our critic (who until then did not know him personally) to ask him what she was doing at the premiere.
Apparently unhappy with one of his past reviews,
"He first threatened to ban him from entering, then accused him of being responsible for the cancellations of subscriptions in Hanover"
, continues the
FAZ
.
No longer controlling himself, Marco Goecke
"took out a paper bag filled with animal turds and smeared the face of our critic with this content"
, adds the newspaper, renowned for its seriousness.
A bag full of animal turds
A Hanover police spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that a complaint had been lodged by a 57-year-old woman
"because her face had been smeared with dog turds"
.
The excrement was not seized, therefore the police will have to settle for the testimony, she said.
An investigation has been opened.
This
"humiliating act"
is an attempt to intimidate
"the free and critical observation of the arts"
, judges the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
On its website, the Hannover Opera said it
"deeply regrets the escalation"
between Marco Goecke and the
FAZ
critic .
The Opera, which
“apologized to the journalist”
, indicated that it would examine the steps in terms of labor law against its ballet director, discuss them and
“act accordingly”
.
“We deeply regret that our public was disturbed by this incident
”, writes the institution again.
The president of the section of the Federation of German Journalists for Lower Saxony (region of which Hanover is the capital), Frank Rieger, called for a stronger reaction from the Opera against the ballet director.
"The communication of the Opera of Hanover is totally insufficient, because the aggression against the journalist of the
FAZ
is also an attack against the freedom of the press"
, affirmed Frank Rieger, quoted by the newspaper.
The incident occurred on the occasion of the premiere of
Glaube - Liebe - Hoffnung
(Faith - Love - Hope), a ballet choreographed by Frenchman Guillaume Hulot, graduate of the Paris Opera School of Dance and National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris.
The director of the Hannover ballet has been suspended.
Marco Goecke is also
"urged to issue a full apology in the coming days"
.
