The German choreographer Marco Goecke is one of the greatest dance makers of our times. His controversial pieces for companies including Nederlands Danstheater are dark, evocative and magical.
Thin Skin is an intimate portrait of an uncompromising choreographer. We see him on a tour of European dance stages and discover that although fear rules Goecke's life, it is also the driving force behind his unique dance idiom.
Transposing my demons into dance lets me make them visible, tangible – lets me transform them into beauty.
Marco goecke
That's my only motivation.
This film is a mersmerizing hour in the presence of Marco Goecke, one of the world's leading choreographers, a glum man who admits that dance interests him more than life. Goecke knows his creative worth, and there's something refreshing about hearing a man tout his own unique choreographic language — one that cannot be imitated. His dance is tough, masculine, sometimes violent, but also sensual and intimate, and requires great dedication from those performing it. Outside of the rehearsal room, Goecke is difficult, demanding and self-centered. He is preoccupied with a feeling of “otherness,” and suffers from panic attacks that cast a shadow on his life and work. However, Goecke's dance conveys his true genius, and his unique vision that is expressed at every moment.