His work was seen in the United States at Houston Ballet, where he worked frequently with artistic director Stanton Welch, a fellow Australian. Among his productions for the company were Tales of Texas and a new production of Swan Lake, to open next spring.

Other recent credits includes the Australian Ballet's massive new Sleeping Beauty, which opened earlier this year.

"All of us at the ballet are deeply saddened by the loss of Kristian," Australian Ballet artistic director David McAllister said. "Those of us who worked with him closely, especially in the production department, considered him as part of our family and we all benefited from his prodigious talent and imagination."