Pina Bausch

A sad day today as Pina Bausch has passed away at the age of 68, five days after being diagnosed with cancer. I'm not going to wax lyrical about a woman who is in my opinion, the unrivalled grand dame of 20th century dance, except to say that watching The Rite of Spring and Cafe Müller in Sadler's Wells last year was one of the most breathtaking performances of any artistic medium I have ever seen. Bausch was my favourite artist - a term I use catholically to mean writer, musician, dancer, architect, painter, sculptor - and this is a sad day for the arts as a whole.