“Arachnophobiaphobia: Whoop Dee Doo Loves Spiders”
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco, CA  |  2017

About the Show

In October of 2017, Whoop Dee Doo created a two-day series of spider themed performances at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Prior to arrival in San Fransisco, Whoop Dee Doo thoroughly researched local performers for the show who were interested in performing and collaborating artistically.

Whoop Dee Doo artists worked for two weeks to conceive and produce two days of original performances in a giant installation featuring 3 separate television "sets" and a spider-operated control room.

For the two live show, The Balboa High School Choir performed from within an enormous spider egg sac with their choir director, in a spider costume, guiding them. The performance group, Bolivia Corazon De America performed a traditional dance after emerging from human-sized, cobwebbed doll boxes. The Velocity Handbell Choir performed a spider-pleasing rendition of some seasonal favorites, and Nordahl Grieg Leikarring og Spelemannslag collaborated with Whoop Dee Doo artists for multiple performances. They kicked off the show with a guided nap time performance for the audience, summoned spiders from the ceiling, became entangled in webs during instrumental music performances and more. The Chhandam Youth Dance Company collaborated on multiple spider-themed performances as well - dancing in unison inside 2 giant spider costumes, creating traditional performances with new costumes and prop pieces and getting wrapped in a massive spider's web. The San Francisco Youth Circus helped film the show and created performance interludes throughout. The band Trash Elf acted as our house band. Audience members had the chance to win incredible hand-made prizes during games for both shows.

The 2nd performance of the weekend concluded with a dismantling of the set allowing audience members to walk away with giant arachnid keepsakes!

Whoop Dee Doo Artists

Michael Boles
Danny Crump
Sarah Dahlinger
Sofia Dixon
Josh Pavlick
Anna Platt
Matthew Roche
Erin Sheehy
Jaimie Warren

Curation

Frank Smigiel

Performers

The Balboa High School Choir
Bolivia Corazón De América
Chhandam Youth Dance Company with Artistic Director Rachna Nivas
Nordahl Grieg Leikarring og Spelemannslag
San Francisco Youth Circus from Circus Center
Trash Elf
Velocity Handbell Ensemble

Links

SFMOMA
The Balboa High School Choir
Bolivia Corazón De América
Chhandam Youth Dance Company with Artistic Director Rachna Nivas
Nordahl Grieg Leikarring og Spelemannslag
San Francisco Youth Circus from Circus Center
Trash Elf
Velocity Handbell Ensemble