Renowned dancer and choreographer Anna Krystek

World-renowned dancer and choreographer Anna Krystek has died following an accident in Brussels.

Ms Krystek, Creative Scotland’s interdisciplinary performance officer, had been in Belgium representing Scotland’s artists at the IETM, an international network for contemporary performing arts.

She was presenting to international peers and bringing her intellect, experience and passion to discussions about the transformative power of the arts.

A fearless advocate of artists’ leadership roles through their work and their impact on society, Glasgow-based Ms Krystek was a founding artist and board member of The Work Room, an artist-led organisation for dance in Glasgow.

She arrived in Glasgow in 1994 as part of Dudendance, a city-based dance company led by Clea Wallis and Paul Rous.

She has since performed across the world as an independent artist and choreographer, beginning with “Test” in 2005.

Just this year she performed “Untitled #0.5 – Who What and Where is Anna?” at Dance International Glasgow.

Her other work includes more than 17 years as a core member of the award-winning Finnish performance group Oblivia, which brought her talent for comedy to the fore.

In an interview in 2001, Ms Krystek said: “I have a lot of respect for my audience. I think that people are very clever and can see and hear and engage with more than what is thought possible.”

Laura Cameron-lewis, head of dance at Creative Scotland, was with Ms Krystek in Brussels before her tragic death.

She described her as “a unique soul within a universal continuum of humanity”.

She said: “Anna herself was not difficult to work with. It was her work that resisted efforts to brush over it or squeeze it into other frames.”

She said Ms Krystek’s great capacity for warmth, her mischievous sense of humour and infectious laugh would be missed.

Respected: Anna Krystek.