January 15th marks the fourth date of dancer choreographer Allison Lang's series: open two. A two performance evening at KW Studios! adv $10 dos $15 Pass for all four shows $20 This event is 19+ Doors at 7:00pm Show at 8pm PREMIERE JUNGLE INSIDE with Rafael Zen, Khalil Alomar and Fabio Oliveira Three alien creatures have only a few hours on Earth to take a snapshot of humanity and report back to mothership. They end up arriving on a Friday night at Davie Street, embarking on a queer journey of drinking, partying, loving and lusting. Borrowing from noise + sound art, this original work challenges the artists through vocal improvisation, performance and experimental electronic music. COLLAB WITH KOKORO FOREST FLUX FREQUENCY with WHY WHISPER (Rafael Zen, Khalil Alomar) and Kokoro Dance (Jay Hirabayashi, Barbara Bourget) In a collaboration with butoh dancers, Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi, this adaptation of Forest Flux Frequency imagines a future when nature no longer exists and all there is left is projections, mimicry and simulations. Through dance, noise art and improvisational music, artists suggest a sonic and visual atmosphere of eco-sorrow and speculative hope. Bios Rafael Zen is a Brazilian-Canadian sound performer and experimental composer. Their research engages cyborg theory, wearable technologies, speculative languages, and noise/disruption in improvisational composition. Their work blends video, theatre, and sound performance, drawing from queer cinema, eco-futures, queer sci-fi, and decolonial storytelling. They hold an MFA in Art and Globalization and are currently researching New Media + Sound Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Recent collaborations include the Vancouver Biennale, the Buschlen Mowatt Nichol Foundation, BC Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery, SUM Gallery, What Lab, rEvolver Festival, Stand Festival, and Theatre Replacement. Khalil Alomar is a Lebanese-Canadian sound artist and interdisciplinary media composer. Working across queer futurity, ecological care, and speculative technology, Alomar creates immersive sonic environments, tactile installations, and collaborative compositions that blend analog circuitry, digital systems, and more-than-human relationships. Inspired by Pauline Oliveros, Tarek Atoui, and José Esteban Muñoz, his practice resists extractive listening and rigid genre boundaries. Recent projects include FOREST / FLUX / FREQUENCY (SUM Gallery, 2024), created with Rafael Zen, and Earth Love and Future Dreams, in which plants co-perform through touch-based sound systems. He is a co-lead of Durations New Media Festival (2023-2026) and Why Whisper Noise Performance Festival (2026). Fabio Oliveira is a multidisciplinary Brazilian artist from Rio de Janeiro, whose creative journey began with music at the age of fourteen, performing in church bands, bars, and later working as a background vocalist. In his early twenties, he studied ballet and jazz, adding movement to his artistic expression. In his thirties, Fabio embraced drag as performance art - fusing presence, voice, rhythm and his Brazilian flair. Since moving to Vancouver in 2014, Fabio has continued to celebrate Brazilian culture through music, poetry and drag, In 2025, through a Why Whisper residency, he was invited as the main vocalist of Jungle Inside, an experimental journey through noise vocalization. Jay Hirabayashi is a renowned Japanese Canadian dancer, choreographer, teacher, and artistic director best known for his work in contemporary dance with the Paula Ross Dance Company, Karen Jamieson Dance Company, EDAM, and Kokoro Dance. With his life partner, Barbara Bourget, he is co-founder of Kokoro Dance and the Vancouver International Dance Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia. Born to a Japanese American family, Hirabayashi’s artistry is deeply influenced by his heritage and his commitment to exploring themes of identity, social justice, and the human condition. Kokoro Dance is a company that fuses butoh — a form of Japanese dance theatre — with Western contemporary dance. Over the years, Hirabayashi has developed a unique and evocative style, marked by intense physicality, emotional depth, and a profound connection to his cultural roots. Kokoro Dance's work has been performed across Canada, in the USA, Germany, UK, The Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, and Japan, garnering acclaim for its evocative and provocative productions that number over 200 dance creations. Beyond their work with Kokoro Dance, Jay and Barbara are also recognized as advocates for the arts community. Through over 300 presentations of other Canadian and international artists at the Vancouver International Dance Festival, he and Barbara have helped elevate the profile of butoh and contemporary dance in Canada. Jay and Barbara remain as vital figures in Canadian Dance. On October 2, 2022, Jay and Barbara were inducted into the Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame for their lifetime achievements in dance. Jay holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta and a Master of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia. He received the Canada Council for the Arts Jacqueline Lemieux Prize in 1994 along with a grant to study butoh in Japan. At the GEI | Art Symposium held in Victoria, BC in September of 2022 to celebrate Japanese Canadian art, Jay was recognized as a Japanese Canadian Legacy Artist. Barbara Bourget is a Canadian dance icon renowned for her pioneering contributions to contemporary dance and butoh in Canada. She co-founded the Kokoro Dance Theatre Society in Vancouver in 1986 with her life partner, Jay Hirabayashi, and with him also co-founded the Vancouver International Dance Festival in 2000. Known for her passionate and evocative performances, Barbara has pushed the boundaries of contemporary dance through her unique blend of Western and Japanese butoh techniques, creating emotionally charged and visually striking pieces. Dancing from the age of 4, Barbara completed the Advanced Exam, R.A.D. syllabus with Mara McBirney in Vancouver before becoming a scholarship student and performer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1967. She danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens from 1969 to 1972. Returning to Vancouver, she danced with Mountain Dance, Paula Ross Dance Company, and Judith Marcuse Dance Projects among many other collaborations with Vancouver choreographers. In 1982, with Jay, Peter Bingham, Ahmed Hassan, Lola MacLaughlin, Jennifer Mascall, and Peter (now Lola) Ryan, she became one of the co-founding artistic directors of EDAM. Her choreographic work spans more than four decades and includes a diverse range of productions that challenge conventional dance norms, often exploring, through a feminist lens, themes of human experience, vulnerability, and transformation. With an unwavering commitment to her craft, Barbara has not only performed but also directed, produced, and mentored the next generation of dancers. Barbara's dedication to the art form continues to inspire audiences and artists alike, solidifying her legacy as a vital force in the Canadian dance community. Dance critic, Max Wyman, once described Barbara as an artist who danced with her heart on her sleeve and her body on red-alert. "Kokoro" means heart, mind, and spirit in Japanese. This word embodies the way Barbara dances. Barbara holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Simon Fraser University and received the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award in Dance in 2011. in 2022, she was inducted into the Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame for their lifetime achievements in dance. --- KW Studios is an accessible venue. Folks in need of an elevator can access one through the lobby entrance. Accessible bathrooms are available downstairs. KW events are both auditory and visual. Sound can be loud, but earplugs can be provided free of charge. Lighting is generally lower but can be adjusted and raised to accommodate people who need brighter venues. KW events are NOTAFLOF (No one turn away for lack of funds). NOTAFLOF tickets are of limited capacity. Please consider your financial need relative to folks in the DTES community where we reside before asking to pay less. We practice the policy NOTAFLOF specifically to allow access to folks negatively impacted by gentrification projects within the DTES community. If you are a student or low income worker, please consider saving up for the next show as the artists and KW staff are also low income workers. Located 111 West Hastings Street Vancouver. Look for the KW sign off Hastings Street for the entrance. This event takes place on the unceded and occupied homelands of the Coast Salish peoples of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We are immensely grateful for being allowed to continue to live, work, and play on these lands.