In 1973, Bausch was appointed artistic director of the Opernhaus Wuppertal ballet, which she ran as an independent company and renamed Tanztheater Wuppertal. Bausch's best known works with the Tanztheater include (
The Rite of Spring) (1975), for which the stage is completely covered with soil, and
Café Müller (1978). and
Meryl Tankard, both Australian dancer/choreographers who worked at the Tanztheater and with Bausch over many years. Endicott was a founding member of the company, along with
Dominique Mercy,
Vivienne Newport, , and . , Bausch's partner, designed sets and costumes for the company until his death in 1980. The Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch made its American debut in Los Angeles as the opening performance of the
1984 Olympic Arts Festival. In 1999, as part of a re-organization of
Wuppertaler Bühnen, Wuppertal's municipal theatre company, the company became fully independent as Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. The City of Wuppertal owns 95% of the Tanztheater. , 2008 In 2009, Bausch was collaborating with
Wim Wenders on a documentary,
Pina, but died suddenly two days before the shoot was to start in June 2009. After consultation with her family, the company, and dancers, the film went ahead. The film features performances by and interviews with Tanztheater dancers. The film premiered at the
Berlin Film Festival in 2011. Since Bausch's death in 2009 there have been five directors of Tanztheater Wuppertal. In 2009, Mercy and Robert Sturm, Bausch's rehearsal director and assistant, took direction of the company. They served as joint directors for four years. In 2013, became director. He was a member of the ensemble in 1975 and was also artistic director of the Limón Dance Company in the 1980s. Förster held the position for four years. In 2017, Adolphe Binder, formerly of the
GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, was appointed artistic director of Tanztheater Wuppertal. She commissioned the first new full-length works for the company after Bausch's death, by
Dimitris Papaioannou and
Alan Lucien Øyen, the first choreographers to create full-length works for the company besides Bausch since 1973. In mid-2022, assumed the role on an eight-year contract with the company. One of Charmatz's first major new works for the Tanztheater,
Liberté Cathédrale, premiered at
Mariendom, a church in
Neviges, near Wuppertal, in September 2023, the 50th anniversary of the company. The company continues to perform Bausch's work in new ways, as well as creating and performing new works. Tanztheater Wuppertal performed a sold-out show,
The Rite of Spring / common ground[s], at the 2022
Adelaide Festival in Adelaide, Australia, and presented a triptych titled
Club Amour in the 2025 festival.
Club Amour consisted of the Australian premiere of
Café Müller alongside two pieces by Charmatz,
Aatt enen tionon (1996), and
herses, duo (1997). == Awards ==