Whoop Dee Doo came out in full force Saturday September 28th, during two performances of Le Monster at Quartiers POP!

Pohanna with Jean-Phillipe and Ariel from Head and Hands outside Quartiers POP

In the five days leading up to the performance, Head and Hands youth gathered with WDD artists after school to develop the concept, props and costumes for the installation/performance. We dropped by one afternoon to find Naeem painting with Michael, Zoë building a dragon with Ruby, Paula writing a story board for shadow puppets with Jaimie, and Rocelle building a headdress with Lee. It was a messy, energetic space, buzzing with brainstorming and creation.

Naeem building the set

Fast forward to performance day: A crowd of roughly 30 audience members for each show included kids and adults of all ages. We were ushered into a mysterious realm, with aluminum foil mirrors in hand while sporting top hats, tinted glasses and carrying black canes (all oversized and made of cardboard, bien sûr). As we emerged from a dark foyer we found ourselves engulfed in a parallel universe: a universe enclosed by billowing sheets of plastic, inhabited by a werewolf, a nurse from the future with two crying babies (huh? It’s true!), a ring wielding-accordian playing magician, a songstress/swan princess, a delightful dragon and a cheerful host in a popcorn bag.

Rocelle, Paula, and Zoë post performance

Thank you to the WDD artists, to the curator Rafael Katigbak, to Josh Dolgin (aka Socalled), to Ruby Kato Attwood (Yamataka//SonicTitan), to the Head and Hands youth participants and animators, to the POP Montreal team and to all those who were there to share the moments of music, giggles, dancing and wonder.

Emily Keenlyside
Pohanna Pyne Feinberg
DHC/ART Education