"[2] 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.
[3] 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.
[4][5] In 1997, Goecke began dancing professionally with Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, then at the ballet of Hagen Theatre.
[4] 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.
[5][4] Movement is primarily by the arms, hands, and torso and described as fluttering, twitching, shaking, spasming, trembling, with great rapidity and precision.
[4][5] He often includes items spread on or falling onto the stage or being tossed by dancers such as feathers, rose petals, balloons, or dead leaves or flour.
[5] On 12 February 2023, Goecke smeared his dog's feces[11][12] 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.
[2] He confronted Hüster during the intermission of a show including one of his works at the Hanover State Ballet, telling her that her piece had caused people to cancel their season tickets, and threatening to ban her from the premises.
[11][13] Goecke said the review had angered him,[2] and that Hüster had written only two positive pieces about his work in the twenty years she'd been covering it.
[2] The Hanover Opera House suspended Goecke after the incident,[12] and on 16 February, the opera house director Laura Berman announced that "by mutual agreement", it was decided that Goecke would step down from his role as the director of the Hanover State Ballet immediately, though his works will remain in the company's repertory.
[2] The Australian Ballet, however, withdrew its plan to tour Kunstkamer, which featured contributions by Goecke and three other choreographers, to the Royal Opera House in London, citing the incident as the reason.
[15] After the incident, four other critics, all based outside of Germany, described receiving "bizarre communications" from Goecke after reviewing his work negatively.