Marco Goecke (born 12 April 1972) is a German choreographer. He was the director of Hanover State Ballet between 2019 and 2023, and had also held positions at Stuttgart Ballet, , Nederlands Dans Theater and Gauthier Dance. He had additionally choreographed works for Paris Opera Ballet, Berlin State Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Vienna State Ballet, among others. Die Welt Manuel Brug called him "the most important choreographer in Germany." In February 2023, after an incident in which he smeared dog feces on the face of a dance critic who had reviewed him negatively, he was removed from his position in Hanover. Early life Goecke was born 12 April 1972 in Wuppertal, Germany. His father worked in an office at a factory and his mother as a secretary. He has an older sister. Goecke began ballet training in 1988. He 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. Career In 1997, Goecke began dancing professionally with Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, then at the ballet of Hagen Theatre. In 2000, he made his choreographic debut with a piece entitled Loch, for Hagen Theatre. In 2005 Goecke became the choreographer in residence at the Stuttgart Ballet. In 2008 he was named resident choreographer at in Rotterdam. In 2013, he was an appointed associate choreographer at the Nederlands Dans Theater. In 2018, he became the resident choreographer at Stuttgart's Gauthier Dance. In 2019, he was named the director of Hanover State Ballet, the ballet of Staatsoper Hannover. Goecke was described as "the most important choreographer in Germany." As of 2023 he has created more than 60 works, some of which are in the repertoires of the Paris Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, the National Ballet of Canada, Berlin State Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, and Ballett Zürich. Most of his works are less than 30 minutes in length. 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. Movement is primarily by the arms, hands, and torso and described as fluttering, twitching, shaking, spasming, trembling, with great rapidity and precision. The movements in his pieces are often described as making little sense and seemingly chosen only to be ugly or different. Goecke's sets are typically dimly lit. He often includes