Just as Wenders felt he had surmounted those limitations and was ready to present Pina with the results – the unimaginable happened: Pina dropped out of the game. And from one day to another, was no longer with us. Nobody had ever thought that Pina could just pass away. Of course we cancelled the film – it seemed unthinkable to want to continue it – except that the dancers continued, even the day that we heard of Pina’s death they went on stage that night and performed – in tears, but they performed. They decided to continue as a company. So eventually, a few months later, they started to rehearse the pieces that we planned.

It became obvious that not shooting them was the wrong decision. We were still in a state of shock and the idea of a movie about Pina was still inconceivable but I also understood that if we couldn’t make a film with Pina anymore, maybe we could make a film for Pina. Maybe it would be of great importance for these dancers. Pina’s death had really pulled the carpet out from under all of their feet. The film was a way to deal with that, and give them something to hold on to, and do this work of grief together, overcome this loss, maybe the film could be a way for us to say goodbye.
 
The resulting effect of 3D creates an unexpected sense of intimacy, allowing for the transmission of those elusive, incantatory qualities that existed on stage. Bausch’s troop of collaborators, a polymorphic group spanning multiple nationalities and ages, discuss their relationship to