Neverland
In 2018, Tuckshop Dance Theatre identified the need for new approaches concerning young people, creative and cultural engagement and global citizenship, and creative and cultural learning and engagement. We successfully received funding from Arts Council England to test and explore our working processed and find recommendations to move forwards with the work.
Neverland emerged as a quest to develop a performance experience that is young person centred, meaningful, collaborative and sustainable.
Through extensive research and development, Neverland is an evolving co- creation model of creative practice, and a flexible place based touring model, that celebrates the potential and impact of youth voice and influence, an opportunity for consultation, meaningful engagement, to identify strategies to inform, and empower organisations, practitioners, diverse audiences and young people to use their voice, and vision for their future.
A lot of important digital practice insights came out of the pandemic, and now it is time to celebrate our creative discoveries and to explore where they can take us...
The project is informed by children and young people's rights, freedoms, stories, with a desire to listen to young people's views through the work, and to enable and activate change.
How young people engage with and are part of the work is bespoke to the place, and creative partnerships- however they are very much at the heart of Neverland, and we can work together to build and transform Neverland. This world is not fixed, and welcomes new voices to the mix...
core-evidence.eu/chasing-rainbows-childrens-well-being-in-a-digital-world/
Neverland emerged as a quest to develop a performance experience that is young person centred, meaningful, collaborative and sustainable.
Through extensive research and development, Neverland is an evolving co- creation model of creative practice, and a flexible place based touring model, that celebrates the potential and impact of youth voice and influence, an opportunity for consultation, meaningful engagement, to identify strategies to inform, and empower organisations, practitioners, diverse audiences and young people to use their voice, and vision for their future.
A lot of important digital practice insights came out of the pandemic, and now it is time to celebrate our creative discoveries and to explore where they can take us...
The project is informed by children and young people's rights, freedoms, stories, with a desire to listen to young people's views through the work, and to enable and activate change.
How young people engage with and are part of the work is bespoke to the place, and creative partnerships- however they are very much at the heart of Neverland, and we can work together to build and transform Neverland. This world is not fixed, and welcomes new voices to the mix...
core-evidence.eu/chasing-rainbows-childrens-well-being-in-a-digital-world/
In 2020, Tuckshop Dance Theatre successfully received funding to develop Neverland further and in 2021, we will be working with partners to further develop the work in Warrington, Wigan and Leigh and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Young people will be contributing their digital work in to Neverland, Performing as avatars in Neverland, and a young performer will be part of the work. We will deepen our social media engagement, build trusting relationships with young people and continue to explore how we work together to evaluate and develop new models and frameworks and to find innovative ways to share the learning and to maximise impact.
Tuckshop Dance Theatre welcomes you to Neverland. An interactive dance and digital story telling experience for young people and families. Neverland is a world of possibility shaped by the voices and minds of young people growing up online. This visually striking, highly physical and entertaining show presents honest, emotional and uplifting stories that reveal the tensions between reality and virtual existence. How can what we post online twist our fate in real life? What do we share, hide and reveal?
Neverland is a space that will continually evolve, shape shifting identities and different approaches to interacting with dance online. Audiences will contribute to creating Neverland. In Phase one, Lauren began to test findings from her research, and has been reflecting on how to build Neverland to reach wider audiences and to really shift the art form of dance as we know it. Dance, Augmented Reality, Social Media and Visual Projections to reveal young people's views around what they love and hate about social media. Lauren is becoming increasingly interested in social media and dance practice as they are both mediums through which cultures assert and question themselves. Social media is a space for which people perform identities. Constructing your online persona is a creative act of self expression, an interplay of imagination and what is real to curate your archive, and perform a version of yourself to your online audience. Lauren is interested in the convergence of social media and dance practices to create new approaches to creating shared experiences. As research is unfolding in real time, Lauren is sharing her own findings online. Stay up to date with Tuckshop Dance Theatre on social media and via this website. This arena feels very fertile and therefore moving forwards, more research around ethical considerations in practice in public and online spheres will be taken in to account.
Young people will be contributing their digital work in to Neverland, Performing as avatars in Neverland, and a young performer will be part of the work. We will deepen our social media engagement, build trusting relationships with young people and continue to explore how we work together to evaluate and develop new models and frameworks and to find innovative ways to share the learning and to maximise impact.
Tuckshop Dance Theatre welcomes you to Neverland. An interactive dance and digital story telling experience for young people and families. Neverland is a world of possibility shaped by the voices and minds of young people growing up online. This visually striking, highly physical and entertaining show presents honest, emotional and uplifting stories that reveal the tensions between reality and virtual existence. How can what we post online twist our fate in real life? What do we share, hide and reveal?
Neverland is a space that will continually evolve, shape shifting identities and different approaches to interacting with dance online. Audiences will contribute to creating Neverland. In Phase one, Lauren began to test findings from her research, and has been reflecting on how to build Neverland to reach wider audiences and to really shift the art form of dance as we know it. Dance, Augmented Reality, Social Media and Visual Projections to reveal young people's views around what they love and hate about social media. Lauren is becoming increasingly interested in social media and dance practice as they are both mediums through which cultures assert and question themselves. Social media is a space for which people perform identities. Constructing your online persona is a creative act of self expression, an interplay of imagination and what is real to curate your archive, and perform a version of yourself to your online audience. Lauren is interested in the convergence of social media and dance practices to create new approaches to creating shared experiences. As research is unfolding in real time, Lauren is sharing her own findings online. Stay up to date with Tuckshop Dance Theatre on social media and via this website. This arena feels very fertile and therefore moving forwards, more research around ethical considerations in practice in public and online spheres will be taken in to account.
Audience Feedback
"Loved It. Absolutely Amazing from start to finish" Young Person, Audience Participant
"I could see my life on stage. So true!" Audience, aged 16.
“The young people all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it gave them plenty to think about, especially their use of social media and the effects it can have.” Youth Worker
"I want all my students to see it! This work will stick with me for a very long time" Teacher
"Loved every minute of it, clever, funny, fun props, lighting and story. Choreography and performance was incredible." Audience Participant
"Neverland was an emotional experience, which as a parent highlighted digital life for youth today. It really does make you think." Parent
"Powerful, clever, sends a strong message and thought provoking." Audience Participant, aged 21
"This work needs to tour and work with schools." Audience Participant
"The show really resonated with my students." Teacher
Evaluation Feedback
100% of our young people said that they use social media to engage with the arts.
100% of our audience said that Neverland could help adults to engage in further conversations with young people and their digital identity.
#cultureisdigital
"Loved It. Absolutely Amazing from start to finish" Young Person, Audience Participant
"I could see my life on stage. So true!" Audience, aged 16.
“The young people all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it gave them plenty to think about, especially their use of social media and the effects it can have.” Youth Worker
"I want all my students to see it! This work will stick with me for a very long time" Teacher
"Loved every minute of it, clever, funny, fun props, lighting and story. Choreography and performance was incredible." Audience Participant
"Neverland was an emotional experience, which as a parent highlighted digital life for youth today. It really does make you think." Parent
"Powerful, clever, sends a strong message and thought provoking." Audience Participant, aged 21
"This work needs to tour and work with schools." Audience Participant
"The show really resonated with my students." Teacher
Evaluation Feedback
100% of our young people said that they use social media to engage with the arts.
100% of our audience said that Neverland could help adults to engage in further conversations with young people and their digital identity.
#cultureisdigital
“For many young people, particularly as the generational divide between our and our parents’ generations widens, access to the internet can equal a person’s access to certain safe spaces that they would not be able to access ‘in real life’. This means something, and whether or not a person feels comfortable in a certain community online should be the qualifier for it allowing young people to ‘be themselves’. These spaces should be commended for accommodating people regardless of race, sexuality etc.” Bella, young Person and Childnet Digital Champion. Please click on button below for more of her perspectives.
