Leading light of modern dance Pina Bausch has died at 68, five days after being diagnosed with cancer

The German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch died this morning at the age of 68, five days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Bausch was the artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, which she founded in 1973. She had a formidable international reputation as one of modern dance's greatest innovators. Her dance-theatre works include the melancholic Café Müller (1978), in which dancers stumble around the stage crashing into tables and chairs, and a thrilling Rite of Spring (1975), which required the stage to be completely covered with soil. Nelken (2005) was performed on a floor covered in flowers, while Palermo Palermo (1989) featured a line of dancers with apples balanced on their heads. Another of her works, Kontakthof (1978), was performed by an ensemble aged between 58 and 77.