Dance: Coco Villarreal

“Precarious is a homage to my own instability and the search for balance.

To the comfort found within discomfort.

To growth that can only emerge from the edge.”

It is a solo that explores the fragile line between collapse and resistance, surrender and control. Through Butoh’s visceral language, Coco dives into the trembling territories of human vulnerability, where equilibrium is never guaranteed, only constantly negotiated.

A piece about standing on the verge: physically, emotionally, and existentially.

A meditation on precariousness as a fundamental human condition and the strange beauty that can bloom there.

Coco Villarreal is a Mexican Butoh dancer, director, and singer with over 20 years of experience. Born into Mexico City’s opera milieu, he trained with renowned Butoh masters including Diego Piñón, Akira Kasai, and Taketeru Kudo. Since 2009, he has been the artistic director of IX-Butoh, developing a visceral and transformative approach rooted in anti-form, ritual approach and somatic intensity. His work explores the body as a space of transformation, vulnerability, and raw expression.

He has performed internationally at festivals including the New York Butoh Festival, Amsterdam Butoh Festival, Barcelona in Butoh, Alma Negra Festival in Madrid, and the Segundo Encuentro de Butoh Latinoamericano in Mexico. He has also taught and presented his work across Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Colombia, Honduras, Turkey, and Indonesia. 

From traditional stages to unconventional landscapes — including urban spaces, and natural environments — his performances and workshops have attracted an international community drawn to his powerful physical presence and deeply embodied approach to Butoh. He also earned the national prize of best director in Mexico in 2002 in the XI Festival Nacional de Teatro Universitario.

He is currently based in Berlin where he teaches Butoh with regularity and curates the events of Raw Butoh Night.