Our Youth Collaborators

Whoop Dee Doo has worked with several at-risk youth programs including Caldera Arts (Sisters, OR), Operation Breakthrough (Kansas City, MO), the Boys & Girls Club (Kansas City, MO), Big Brother/Big Sister (Kansas City, MO), Girls, Inc. (Omaha, NE), Urgent, Inc. Rites of Passage Program (Miami, FL), Experimental Station’s Blackstone Bicycle youth Program (Chicago, IL), Head & Hands (Montreal, Canada), as well as students at the University of Central Missouri, the University of Cincinnati, Pacific Northwest College of Art, The University of Texas at San Antonio, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Maryland Institute College of Art, the University of Chicago, Rockhurst University, and the KCAI High School Summer Program.

Whoop Dee Doo is a traveling, artist-led project and non-profit organization that creates ambitious installations and live performances internationally, generally through universities, festivals, arts organizations, and museums. Each project and accompanying programming are uniquely crafted to fit the needs of the organizations with which we partner, engaging their immediate communities. We work closely with underserved youth groups to research, conceive and create our projects. Our process emphasizes collaboration, encourages respect for diversity, and seeks to initiate a cross-generational and cross-cultural dialogue.

Mission

Whoop Dee Doo’s mission is to encourage creative collaboration and a respect for diversity through inclusive, non-conventional programming.

Vision

Whoop Dee Doo works closely with underserved youth, adolescents and adults through workshops, community collaborations and live variety shows. Through our programming, Whoop Dee Doo strives to not only break down stereotypes and barriers between age, gender, culture and subculture, but to form and foster unique collaborations between unlikely pairings of community members that ultimately blossom into exceptional and meaningful interactions. Through our community programming, Whoop Dee Doo collaborates with performers and artists of all backgrounds and specialties- from science teachers and Celtic bagpipers to traditional clogging troupes, West African dance teams, Tibetan throat singers, bodybuilders, barbershop quartets, and punk bands. This chaotic mix creates an unexpected and endearing experience, and invites a cross-generational and cross-cultural dialogue.

Core Values     

Everything Whoop Dee Doo does is an inclusive endeavor, celebrating differences and unabashed self-expression. Whoop Dee Doo’s shows, performances and installations embrace a wide range of tastes and sensibilities, stripping away divisions between high and low art. Wherever Whoop Dee Doo goes, it seeks to foster a creative, inclusive environment by working closely with local artists and inviting members of the community to observe and contribute to each show or installation’s production process. Our audience and participants have ranged from ages 4-80 years old, and anyone – artist or not – is invited to participate in Whoop Dee Doo’s uniquely dynamic shows as an audience member, performer or collaborator. We encourage involvement and hope that the youth involved leave with a broader understanding of and an appreciation for creative self-expression.

While reflective of a specific critical, curatorial sensibility, Whoop Dee Doo’s process for live shows invites performers from a diverse range of specialties and backgrounds to collaborate with one another, pushing them slightly outside their comfort zone. These unlikely partnerships create some of the most meaningful moments for both the performers and the audience. The unusual but successful pairings demonstrate to the audience that regardless of any perceived differences, people from diverse cultural and generational backgrounds can work together to create something substantial and beautiful. These moments open up new, unique and important conversations and interactions that bring the community closer together. Our hope is for youth and adults to experience a completely integrated way of working, and in turn gain a more enlightened and tolerant perspective on their community.