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From no rhythm to Butoh: the Spanish dancer cracking open boundaries at the Fringe

Richard Beck Richard Beck
10 Jul 2025

We talked to Alejandro Martín de Mier about his background, Butoh, and his Fringe show The Nest.


Ali, let’s start with your background.

I'm 36 and from Santander in northern Spain, though I’ve lived in many different places including Madrid, Croatia and Málaga. Before I discovered I liked moving my body, I used to move my home.

I studied and worked as a social worker for many years. Human relationships and working with people were always my main interests. But I got tired of constantly dealing with problems and navigating organisations. I asked myself: if you're not happy, how can you help others?

The fun part started around the age of 28. Can you picture that guy at the club with no rhythm at all? The one who tries to dance but just can’t – not even after a few drinks? That was me. Actually… that’s still me, in a way.

Then one day – for reasons I still don’t quite understand – that guy ended up in a Butoh dance class. And he started moving. And he discovered that movement made him happy. So he kept going, growing more curious, moving with more freedom and more possibilities each day. Eventually, he began sharing that with others through workshops, and even created a few performances.

What inspired you to form your own company?

I never thought about having my own company. I’d had bad experiences putting too much pressure on goals, money and other practical stuff, so I just want to forget all of that. I earn money from other activities, so my main goal right now is to enjoy the Fringe.

I started dancing quite late, and my motivation was to investigate the body, the mind, relationships and space by organising workshops. But one day, I was sitting on the floor before training and I clearly visualised the whole show – I had no choice… The rest? It just came along. A musician appeared, all the support I needed, opportunities to dance at different festivals: in my hometown, Madrid, Edinburgh, Amsterdam… Actually, I still don’t really know what I’m doing; I just want to dance and share my passion, so I keep going.

Tell us about Butoh and your style of dance.

Butoh is a Japanese style of dancing that was born around the 60s. It’s characterised by slow movements and an abstract way of showing ideas and meanings. It really goes to the subconscious part of the mind. At that time in Japan they were living a difficult moment because of the second world war and the atomic bomb, and the dances were a bit dark. But this is not Japan, and it is not the 60s. So my main goal is to bring all this knowledge and wisdom into a western context.

What I really like about Butoh is that no technique is needed. I have practised contact improvisation, contemporary dance and physical theatre, which have had a powerful influence on my dances, but the freedom Butoh provides me is unique. I feel I can be myself with it, and that’s why I choose to go in this way.

What is your Fringe show, The Nest, about?

It's about birth and transformation. It is a way of living. Imagine each moment lived as a baby trying to come into this world; a small chicken cracking the egg. Everybody loves to see them: babies, puppies, cultivated plants for our own food. Why don’t we treat ourselves like that? Why don’t we see everything as a baby? Why don’t we change the things we don’t like? We used to do it just with our mind, imagination… oh, we all love it! But I try to go one step further: I put my body on that.

In the show, I move away from positivist and New Age narratives that try to sell everything as beautiful and cheerful. Sorry, folks – Disney is just an international company that got rich because they know we love being children, but they have no interest in seeing us get off the couch or out of the cinema.

In my show, I present reality, rawness, struggle, enthusiasm, joy and pain. I share my life process and how it’s worth going through every part of it.

What is the significance of music in the piece and its relationship to the movement?

Music in The Nest is everything around a birth: pleasure, contractions, fear, pushing, heaviness, excitement, release, intensity… we’ve all been there at the beginning, but most of us just don’t remember. What I do while dancing is simply obey the music.

My partner JULI(0) is the creator and live performer of the music, and it’s really important – though it can be polarising. I know it’s a bit intense. The feedback I’ve received has been both: “I loved it” or “It was too much for me.” I’m fine with that – anything that makes people feel something is perfect, exactly what I’m aiming for.

The music has three different parts. First, we just use guitar and amplifier, drone style with a little bit of hardcore. Second, absolute silence. And third – oh! I love it! – it is a loop in crescendo with different instruments like Tibetan singing bowls, claves, shaker, hand drum, voice and other sound effects.

Why did you choose to perform at the Fringe? How are you feeling about it?

Well, my brother has been living in Edinburgh for more than ten years. I was just beginning to learn about dancing. I visited him while the Fringe was happening. I remember watching a show and thinking, “Could I be here performing someday? Nah, no way.” Then last Christmas he said, “If you are creating something… remember I live in Edinburgh, come to the Fringe,” and here I am!

What would you like the audience to take away from having seen your show?

Presence. I specified in the description of the show: “a living meditation shared between movement, space and audience.”

With the show, I just want to travel all together. Where? Well, each person has their own dreams, imagination, ways of perceiving. So I just want to go all together through them – just let them have a space during the show, use my body and the atmosphere we have created to relax and go somewhere else.

Richard Beck

Richard Beck

A graduate in theology and education, Richard acted and contributed to dance, drama and music productions throughout his teaching career. He joined Broadway Baby in 2014 and is now our Editor-in-Chief. He usually disappears to warmer climes for the winter to pursue his passion for travel.

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