The Grazer Volksblatt newspaper in 1911 states she began performing in the Berlin Überbrettl cabaret (perhaps in 1902) as “[an Isadora] Duncan imitator.”[1] Other sources state she came public notice in 1905, performing the Dance of the Seven Veils while simultaneously speaking the final monologue from Oscar Wilde's play Salome.

Villany also incorporated themes from paintings by contemporary artists such as Franz Stuck and Arnold Böcklin.

Villany performed in Prague, Paris, Ghent, Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna and Brussels and at spas such as Marienbad and San Sebastián.

[2] She was prosecuted for appearing unclothed on stage in Munich in 1911 but was acquitted; the jury found that her performance was in the "higher interests of art".

[4] Villany published a book on dance, Tanz-Reform und Pseudo-Moral Kritischsatyrische Gedanken aus meinem Bühnen- u. Privatleben, in 1912 that expressed her aesthetic principles.