A critic's face was covered in dog feces by an award-winning German ballet director, who has since been suspended.
A review of one of Marco Goecke's performances by journalist Wiebke Hüster apparently incensed him.
He allegedly confronted Ms. Hüster during the intermission of another show and spat dog feces on her face.
Police were looking into it, according to Ms. Hüster's employer, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
Ms. Hüster compared M. Goecke's performance of In The Dutch Mountains to being "alternately driven mad and killed by boredom" in her initial review.
In the course of the argument, Mr. Goecke threatened to expel her from the opera house and claimed that he thought the critical review had cost the Hanover Opera House subscriptions.
Hanover State Opera announced that Mr. Goecke had been suspended immediately because his "impulsive reaction" had violated the organization's standards of behavior.
They claimed that Mr. Goecke "extremely unnerved the audience, the staff of the house, and the general public and thereby seriously damaged the State Ballet.".
According to the statement, Ms. Hüster's "personal integrity was blatantly violated.".
The incident was characterized by the FAZ paper, for which Ms. Hüster worked, as "an attempt to intimidate our free, critical view of the art.".
Since 2019, Mr. Goecke has served as the director of the Hanover Theatre. He was also awarded the 2022 German Dance Prize.
