Marco Goecke completed his ballet training in 1988 at the Ballet Academy of the Heinz-Bosl Foundation Munich and at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he received his diploma in 1995. This was followed by engagements at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Theater Hagen.

In 2000, Goecke created his first choreography entitled Loch am Theater Hagen. This was followed by several choreographies for the Noverre Society with dancers of the Stuttgart Ballet and an invitation to the New York Choreographic Institute. In July 2003 Goecke won the Prix Dom Perignon in Hamburg with the piece Blushing danced by the Stuttgart Ballet. The pas de deux ring them bells was created for the 2003 Christmas gala in the Staatstheater Stuttgart. This is followed by numerous commissioned works for international companies.

With the season 2005/2006 Marco Goecke was appointed to the house choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet and created in December 2006 there his first action ballet: Nutcracker, which was later filmed for the ZDFtheaterkanal.

From 2006 to 2012, Goecke also held the title of house choreographer at Scapino Ballets Rotterdam. From the 2013/14 season Goecke will become the house choreographer at the Nederlands Dans Theater.

In addition to the more than sixty works that Goecke has created within a few years (see list of works), many of his existing choreographies are rehearsed by other companies, eg. Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Munich Ballet Theater, Saarland State Theater Saarbrücken, Staatstheater Hannover, Vienna State Opera and Theater Augsburg.

In 2015, his ballet piece Lonesome George was premiered, which is about the turtle of the same name. He had started working on it before they died in 2012, but had to stop because of a serious illness. According to his own statement, the disease could have been fatal, which is why his work has since been influenced by the recognition of how fragile people are.

In July 2017, announced Tamas Detrich, designated director of the Stuttgart Ballet and successor Reid Anderson, that he will not extend Goecke's contract as a house choreographer beyond the season 2017/18. In February 2018, Goecke was appointed by the designated opera director Laura Berman ballet director of the State Opera Hannover from the season 2019/20. In June 2018, Gauthier Dance, the dance company in the Stuttgart Theaterhaus, signed a contract with Goecke as Artist in Residence from January 2019.

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