TODAY 50 YEARS AGO Marco Goecke was born. His unique, inimitable works make him one of the most important choreographers in Europe today. Born in Wuppertal, he initially trained at the ballet academy in Cologne and the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich before graduating from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. His first engagements as a dancer took him to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and then to the Theater Hagen where he created his first piece in 2000. Subsequently he applied unsuccessfully as a choreographer to various houses and competitions before Fritz Höver invited him to the Young Choreographers evening of the Noverre-Society in Stuttgart. From then on Goecke's choreographic career took off. The then Artistic Director of the Stuttgart Ballet, Reid Anderson, recognised what a ground-breaking movement vocabulary Goecke possessed and commissioned him with further pieces. As of the 2005-06 season, he appointed Goecke Resident Choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet. Until 2018, Goecke shaped the repertoire of the Stuttgart Ballet with his profound works and his feverish, tremulous movements. Outside Stuttgart, Goecke was Resident Choreographer at Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and is closely associated with Nederlands Dans Theater and Gauthier Dance at Theaterhaus Stuttgart as Associate Choreographer and Artist in Residence respectively. In September 2019, Goecke assumed the direction of the ballet of the Staatstheater Hannover. Happy Birthday Marco!

Photo: Marco Goecke with his dog Gustav; © Roman Novitzky