German-born choreographer Tanja Liedtke was only 29 in 2007 when she was given what is probably the biggest dance job in the Southern Hemisphere - the artistic directorship of the highly regarded Sydney Dance Company.
It was, by all accounts, an audacious, even visionary choice: the precociously talented Liedtke had wowed audiences and critics since 1999, and her appointment reportedly attracted no criticism in the notoriously bitchy world of professional performance.
Yet before she even took up the job she was dead - after being struck by a rubbish truck in the small hours of August 17, 2007. This short and accomplished documentary is a tribute to her life and work.
Its tone is unsurprisingly admiring, yet there is plainly much to admire. The film is built around a "memorial tour" of Liedtke's work, organised by her partner - in life and work - Sol Ulbrich.
There is ample and thrilling footage of the subject herself and of the troupe as they recreate, rehearse and perform works that are a winning blend of precision, slapstick humour and haunting poignancy.
