Marco Goecke

Marco Goecke (born 12 April 1972) is a German choreographer currently serving as the artistic director of Ballett Basel since August 2025, and had also held the positions of house choreographer 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." for years. After the attack he was removed from his position as head of Hanover State Opera’s ballet company. In late May 2024 Goecke was announced to be the director of ballet for the Theater Basel for the upcoming season 2025/2026.

Early life Goecke was born on 12 April 1972 in Wuppertal, Germany. His father worked in an office at a factory and his mother as a secretary. In 2008 he was named resident choreographer at in Rotterdam. 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. Most of his works are less than 30 minutes in length.

Goecke's Nijinski (2016) was called out by the 2022 Deutscher Tanzpreis jury as a milestone in his career. on the face of Wiebke Hüster, 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. He then pulled out a bag of feces and smeared them on her face. He said that critics should not write in "a personal and hateful way".

Proceedings against Goecke were discontinued in November 2023, after the prosecution concluded that Hüster did not suffer lasting damage and Goecke donated a four-digit amount to a non-profit association that deals with conflict resolution.

In late May 2024, Marco Goecke was announced to be the ballet director for the Theater Basel from the upcoming season 2025/2026. On the occasion, the theater's Artistic Director Benedikt von Peter praised Goecke as an exceptional artist, who deserved a second chance.

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

In 2017 Goecke won the Gouden Zwaan for most impressive dance production for Midnight Raga, and the Danza & Danza award for best choreography for Nijinski. The jury said his work was extraordinary, that he had created an "unmistakable signature", and that he had contributed to the development of modern dance.

Works 2000 Loch, Theater Hagen / Choreographic Competition Hanover (Music: Schubert, Mozart)