Step inside a forest clearing built entirely from sound for the celebrated, multidisciplinary artist's most personal album yet; live for two nights only
LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Anima Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to breaking down barriers for independent and underrepresented artists, today announced a two-night immersive concert experience presented with Los Angeles-based musician Dolce Wang. “Any Other Way” debuts July 25-26, 2026, at Venia Studio in Downtown Los Angeles, and is co-produced with Bravewyld, a Los Angeles-based collective of multidisciplinary creative volunteers.
Image Caption: Dolce Wang, ‘Any Other Way’ immersive listening event concept artwork. Credit: Concept image created using Adobe Firefly by Anima Initiative based on an original photograph courtesy of Dolce Wang.
“Any Other Way,” Wang’s most personal record to date, is an emotionally rich collection of shoegaze, indie folk and electronic dream pop that embraces vulnerability as a source of strength. Written across years of international travel and shaped by conversations with strangers along the way, the album moves through themes of love, loss, resilience and tenderness, including “Time Once Again,” a song written about the passing of Wang’s father.
The record features an international ensemble that mirrors its global influence. Serbian drummer Serge Milenkovic, Yugoslavia-born bassist and producer Aleksandar “Meksi” Sasha Panich and Taiwanese violinist Edith Lin bring together distinct musical backgrounds to create a unified and deeply expressive sound. Together, they craft sweeping arrangements that move effortlessly between intimate acoustic passages, expansive shoegaze textures and cinematic dream pop.
The record’s title doubles as its thesis: an invitation to find and be celebrated in one’s own unique path forward and the album release is intended as more than an immersive listening event; it is both a personal artistic statement and a demonstration of what’s possible when musicians, designers and community organizations unite their strengths toward a single creative vision. That range comes naturally to Wang, whose career sits at the intersection of art and engineering.
Alongside her music, she has spent nearly two decades as a multidisciplinary creative and business leader across theme park design, film and interactive new media art, including as a Creative Director and Inventor within Walt Disney’s R&D Imagineering division. “Any Other Way” draws directly on that same instinct for world-building aimed, this time, at her own story.
“The canvas is the space, actually. And with the space and the event, we’re transporting people from their daily lives. For me, it’s about stopping time so you can be present in the moment, with the people around you. The album is very poetic so there’s a poetic sense to the space. It’s creating a sense of magic. That’s the memory we’re embedding into people’s minds,” said Wang. “When we can find our own ways and celebrate that together, even when it’s difficult or isolating to walk the road less-traveled, we’re actually doing this together. I believe the evening and the album are both reflective of how we are able to find another way.”
Anima Initiative and Wang partnered on this immersive concert experience following the success of her earlier show, InDreams Immersive Concert, where audiences reportedly remained in their seats for the full 90-minute performance. Rather than staging a traditional album release show, Wang and Anima conceived the event as a fully immersive world of her own making, assembling Bravewyld’s multidisciplinary team of collaborators, including projection and lighting designers, a fashion studio, florists and a dedicated soundscape partner, to transform the studio into what the creative team is calling a “forest clearing for the weary traveler.”
The result is an environment built around live performance, ambient soundscapes, 3D audio and layered lighting, projection and scent design, all in service of the album’s sound. For Anima Initiative, the collaboration is also a continuation of its core mission: creating environments where independent and underrepresented artists can share their work without the usual production and marketing hurdles.
“There is something incredibly unique about listening to Dolce perform live. Being able to showcase it through Anima is a very unique opportunity for us, but also one that we’re very happy to do, because much of the feedback we’ve received is that LA needs more of this, and facilitating the experience of this album and event is exactly what we’re here to do,” said Keeter Ly, Co-Founder & Experience Director, Anima Initiative. “Anima’s entire mission is to support independent, underrepresented artists and help tell their stories, removing barriers and giving them a platform for their work.”
At a moment when independent artists face mounting barriers to producing and marketing their own work, this event reflects a broader shift in how independent artists in Los Angeles are reimagining the album release format, trading the traditional venue-and-lineup model for smaller, narrative-driven gatherings built around a specific sensory and emotional experience.
“A lot of people have known me to be unshakably resilient. I’ve gone through a lot, both professionally and in my personal life, pushing through a lot of hardship in our family growing up. Tapping into that is very difficult publicly, but I’m slowly learning how to find strength in vulnerability. The truth is, there has always been plenty of fear and anxiety, but I’ve created a muscle of just stepping through it. Now I’m just pulling back the curtain. In fact, the album leaves me in an even more raw state because it’s so personal. But as I step through this, I feel like it also gives permission for others to do the same and embrace their humanness,” said Wang.
At its core, “Any Other Way” is an invitation into a shared experience. Through music, design and immersive storytelling, the event encourages audiences not simply to observe, but to participate, to slow down, connect and experience the album together.
As Wang put it, echoing a line from Maya Angelou that she returns to often: “You only are free when you realize you belong to no place, you belong to every place, no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great;” the emotional anchor of both the album and the event.
EVENT DETAILS:
What: “Any Other Way,” a two-night immersive concert experience
Who: Dolce Wang, presented by Anima Initiative, co-produced with Bravewyld
When: July 25-26, 2026
Where: Venia Studio, Downtown Los Angeles
Tickets: On sale now; presale pricing ends at 11:55 p.m. the night before each show, after which door pricing applies
ABOUT DOLCE WANG:
Dolce Wang is a Los Angeles-based musician and multidisciplinary artist whose nearly two-decade career spans theme park design, film, spatial audio and interactive new media art. A former Creative Director and Inventor within Walt Disney’s R&D Imagineering division and two-time U.S. patent holder, she has since served as Chief Creative Officer of Fantasy Works Interactive and Executive Creative Director at MoonShine Animation, and designs experiences for clients including Audi, Honda, Asus, NASA and the United Nations.
Her music draws on years spent in Taiwan’s independent scene and her own string-driven shoegaze sound; she also founded the Vox Photo Project, teaching photography as a tool for underserved communities to tell their own stories. “Any Other Way” is her most personal release to date, exploring themes of love, loss, resilience and belonging. For additional information, visit: https://www.dolcewang.com/.
ABOUT ANIMA INITIATIVE:
Anima Initiative is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to being a platform for underrepresented and independent artists, exploring the invisible languages of art, music and movement. Anima works to identify the barriers artists face, particularly around production, logistics, and marketing and to build environments where their work can reach audiences and communities more directly. For additional information, visit: https://www.anima-initiative.org/.
ABOUT BRAVEWYLD:
Bravewyld is a thought collective of wacky and passionate multi-disciplinary volunteers from around the world, who gather for salon-style conversations, champion each other’s work and are united by a desire to create something beautiful in Los Angeles.
MULTIMEDIA:
Image link for media:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14UDEbUyiPgBdeo3ONp1A4VJSnmHJVB8C/view?usp=share_link
Image Caption: Dolce Wang, ‘Any Other Way’ immersive listening event concept artwork.
Image Credit: Concept image created using Adobe Firefly by Anima Initiative based on an original photograph courtesy of Dolce Wang.
Listen (pre-save): https://show.co/yUBOqCT
Anima Initiative Logo:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pZmVMjnB_CbMuIyYWTlm3MpvVzO4ywtR/view?usp=sharing
NEWS SOURCE: Anima Initiative
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