Associate choreographer
Photo: Rahi Rezvani
Choreographer Marco Goecke (Germany, 1972) trained at the Heinz Bosl Foundation ballet academy in Munich and at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He created his first choreography in 2000 and has since produced more than 90 works, many of which are performed by dance companies across the world. Goecke has served as Choreographer in Residence at Stuttgart Ballet and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Artist in Residence at Gauthier Dance Stuttgart, Artistic Director at Staatsballett Hannover, and from the 2025–2026 season, he will take up the role of Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer at Theater Basel.
Since 2013, Goecke has been an associate choreographer with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), creating numerous world premieres for both NDT 1 and NDT 2.
Goecke’s work is internationally acclaimed, and over the years he has been the recipient of many awards, including a Swan Award for Most Impressive Dance Production for Midnight Raga (2017, NDT 2), a Danza&Danza Award, and, in 2022, the prestigious Jiří Kylián Ring – a passing award recognising ‘indispensable contributions to the world of dance.’
The deep affection for Goecke’s work among a wide audience is easy to understand. His movement language is unique, complex, expressive and deeply emotional, demanding extreme virtuosity from the dancers who perform it. He stands apart as a maker through his mastery of tempo: the dancers’ bodies often flicker and vibrate at an astonishing speed, almost too fast to perceive, interspersed with moments of stillness or razor-sharp compositions. Sometimes the dancers move with the music, but just as often they follow a rhythm entirely of their own.
In the 2024–2025 season, Goecke’s Wir sagen uns Dunkles will feature in Falling Into Shadow, a programme by NDT 2. In the 2025–2026 season, NDT 1 will reprise Woke up Blind as part of the programme RESONANCE. From that same season onwards, we are proud to extend our collaboration with Goecke in his role as associate choreographer.
