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 processes 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/

If you feel social media is impacting your mental health there are organisations and support services that can help you. Please do reach out for support if you feel that you need it.

https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/other-services/Child%20and%20adolescent%20mental%20health%20services%20(CAMHS)/LocationSearch/2157

https://www.mind.org.uk

https://www.youngminds.org.uk

https://www.42ndstreet.org.uk

Neverland Map Designed by Chloe Corcoran - Locations on the map to be co- created with Young People.

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 choose to share, hide and reveal? How do we curate our lives online?

Neverland is a metaphor for today’s society and how it plays out online. Neverland: Our Story in Pixels, is loosely inspired by Social Media, Young People’s stories of growing up online, digital rights, safeguarding, identity, citizenship and oddly the story of Peter Pan. This hybrid performance experience looks at our sense of reality, looking at reality both online and offline. Is what you see, what you get or are we all trying to live up to a distorted sense of reality? Neverland is a digital world shaped by the voices and imagination of Lauren Tucker and young people she has been engaging with since 2017. By bringing audiences together, we can co- create new memories and collectively share our experience online. Who are you and what do you want to say to the world? Lauren wants to ask young people, parents, teachers and anyone with an interest in developing young people for their futures- how can social media and digital technology be used as a force for good, and enable us to move towards the rainbow we have been chasing and dreaming of, a better society both online and offline. Are we prepared to have conversations with young people to enable positive social media use and to explore its creative potential? It’s a serious subject matter, but this experience is not a dark one, it is fun, entertaining and designed with, by and for young people. It is a child friendly show. Recommended audience 9+

As an artist, Lauren aims to actively listen to young people, to advocate for equality, to raise awareness and educate on issues of global concern and social injustice by any media neccessary. To find out more about the company, please visit: tuckshopdancetheatre.org, Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TuckshopDanceTheatre , follow us on Twitter @TuckshopDance or on Instagram TuckshopDanceTheatre

If you come to our performances you get Free sweets!

Thanks to Arts Council England, Cheshire Dance, Cheshire West and Chester Libraries, Wired Aerial Theatre, The Hive Youth Zone, Creative Youth Development Wirral, Storyhouse, Action Transport Theatre, Dope Male Performance Company, The Old Courts, Bedford High School, Culture Warrington, Warrington LCEP, Wigan and Leigh LCEP, Cheshire LCEP, Curious Minds Felicity Goodman, Lou Maddocks and Sarah Ward..

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

Image Gallery above: Photographs by Phil Breen

“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.

Findings From The Wireless Report

Headline statistics:

4-in-10 have experienced online abuse
1 in 4 children have received an unwanted sexual message or image from a stranger online with 21% saying that they were at least 10 years older than them
Only 15% believe that the social networks and apps they use have sufficient moderation
4-in-10 rarely disconnect from social media and say they use it constantly throughout the day
2% of under 18s have over 100k followers on social media, with 1-in-5 aspiring for this level of digital popularity
8-in-10 children have followers online that they don’t know in real life
15% of young people take selfies at least several times every day
1-in-5 regularly compare themselves, their success and their happiness to the people they follow online
8-in-10 young people don’t tell their parents about everything that happens to them online with 22% telling their parents hardly anything
1-in-4 want their parents to stop posting photos of them online because it makes them feel embarrassed
1-in-3 young people wish their parents would spend less time online and more time with them

The Wireless Report by Ditch The Label

Bella's perspectives

Image Galley above: Photographs by Adam Holloway

NEVERLAND

"I feel that there is a need for more dialogue concerning young people and their digital identity, online behaviour and interests. As an artist sharing multiple perspectives of young people living online, it is my role to do the work of the dialogue. Tuckshop Dance Theatre want to explore the potential of social media and youth engagement, raise awareness of the positive and negative elements related to social media, and to promote that young people use it safely and for good. Through all of my work I want to encourage young people to be advocates for youth voice and the power of cultural engagement." Lauren Tucker

Neverland Performers

Jake Evans

Originally from the Wirral, Jake started dancing aged 17 at Creative Youth Development (then Wirral Youth Theatre) before gaining a BTEC in Performing Arts (Dance) at City of Liverpool College. He then went on to complete both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds. After touring internationally with the post-graduate company VERVE (2016), Jake went on to work with choreographers Aletta Collins, Tommy Smalls (Shaper/Caper), Josh Hawkins (Hawk Dance Theatre), and Joseph Reay-Reid. He is currently working with Vincent Dance Theatre and Gary Clarke Company, and also performs at various LGBT venues/events as a club host & drag artist.

Natasha Gooden
Natasha trained at Liverpool Community College age 16 where she was awarded a National Diploma in Dance with distinctions in ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz, street dance and physical theatre. She went on to train at the Shockout Academy in Manchester where she specialised in ballet, hip hop, acting and singing.

Natasha appeared with ZooNation in 'Some Like it Hip Hop' and 'Into the Hoods Remixed' (West End and Touring), she will be performing with Zoo Nation in their production 'Message In A Bottle' zoonation.co.uk/productions/message-in-a-bottle/
Natasha also performed with Boadicea on Sky One's Got to Dance First female crew to ever make the finals in 2012 Also in 2012 she was a performer in the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics.

Natasha's commercial credits include the Misha B music video Home Run, She was a dancer in Season 2 of 'The Lodge' Disney Channel video 'It's My Time' with RnD Creatives Agency, and performances on The X Factor with JLS and One Direction and Ministry of Sound Advert Commercial 'The House That Garage Built'.

She has also worked as a dancer in Hip Hop Production 'Blak Wythe Gray' BoyBlue Entreatment UK/International Tour London, Germany and New York 'White Light Festival'

Teaching: Natasha also enjoys choreographing and teaching her own workshops at venues across the UK.

Nicolette Whitely

Nicolette Whitley completed her degree at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). Her experience as a performer spans across Film, TV and Theatre throughout the UK and internationally. Nicolette is currently working with Fallen Angels Dance Theatre (FADT), under the guidance of former Royal Ballet soloist Paul Bayes Kitcher. Nicolette has had an inspiring journey with FADT; performing at the Royal Opera House, London Science Gallery, collaborations with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Geese Theatre, TEDxand mentorships from Russell Maliphant and Marco Goecke with the company.
Nicolette is particularly interested and inspired bycollaboration, this year she has been working on anew commission with FACT, MDI and artistsAmalia Pica and Rafael Ortega. Nicolette spent a year in Barcelona working with Martz Contemporary Dance Company (MCDC) and choreographer Eva Sánchez Martz. MCDC has enabled Nicolette to further her creative development and grow as an artist while performing in countries such as Spain, Italy and Switzerland. In the recent years she has also been working with Tuckshop Dance Theatre on productions FLAMINGOS and Neverland, funded by ACE, performing in the UK.

Nicolette has a passion for choreography and was a co-founder of the contemporary lyrical dance duo Alleviate. Alleviate were the runners up on Sky 1’s Got To Dance series 2 and went on to star in the hit dance show Flash Mob at Sadler's Wells Peacock Theatre in the West End.
Career highlights: The Royal Opera House, The London Science Gallery, collaboration with Birmingham Royal Ballet, BBC3 Amazing Humans, Buckingham Palace for HM, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Latitude Festival, 59th FilmFare Awards (India), 3D Filmusic Barcelona.
Commercials for Argos, Virgin and Oral B featuring Shakira. The Inbetweeners movie, 8 out of 10 Cats, Adidas, Stella McCartney, Topshop, VOGUE Brasil, Guess, Gap & Sweaty Betty.
Teaching: International Credits, Freelance Dance Artist and Facilitator.

Ebony Davis

Ebony is 10 years old and has been dancing the majority of her life! She attends Complete Works Performance School in Bebington and trains in most genres. She is an associate dancer for The Hammond and Melt Dance in Liverpool.

WHY NEVERLAND?

To share young people's perspectives, rather than adult's stresses or concerns but to celebrate social media as a positive and fun space. Dance Practice and Digital Citizenship are both mediums that allow young people to experience and explore their identity, and navigate the unknown. Social media feels like a performance space, and a place where people are sharing their online identity and telling their stories daily. It totally makes sense for a dance maker to explore the possibilities of a collision between the live, physical and social network and augmented realities collide. After the first phase of Neverland, there is a strong case to continue with this enquiry.

"Social Media is a performance space that can alter our understanding of all performance spaces: it forces new ways of thinking about authenticity, creative proprietorship, authorial intention, and the relationship between artist and audience among many other urgent issues. Those changes inevitably will alter the way in which theatre is made and received." Patrick Lonergan, Theatre and Social Media.
www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/patrick-lonergan/theatre-and-social-media/GOR010054729

After a successful research and development process, Lauren is interested in developing the work to create a visually spectacular, immersive installation piece that lives on social media, with narrative fed through social media channels before, during and after the show. Lauren wants to use phase two, to reach more young people through her research and to give audiences more control of the outcomes of the performance, using digital media. Audiences are invited to capture the work and share their own perspectives of the work online and Lauren will eventually create a digital archive that celebrates community engagement and digital culture' #makingneverland'

Lauren Tucker has been working with young people to find out what life is like for young people in our digital world, to explore digital identity, to allow young people to reflect on how they present themselves, develop relationships. The work aims to celebrate individuality in young people, to empower them to make positive choices, to amplify youth voice and use digital technology in a meaningful and effective way.

In the Make Your Mark Youth Consultation carried out by Youth Parliament, the Northwest outlined Mental Health as a top priority issue for young people. Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Liverpool and Wirral believed that Mental Health Services should be improved with young people’s help and should be available in schools. http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/makeyourmark/

Tuckshop Dance Theatre consulted with hundreds of young people from the Northwest to find that 100% of the young people involved in the research, believe that social media can have a negative impact on mental health and well-being of young people. Neverland looks at young people’s digital identity what role social media is playing on developing healthy and active global citizens both on and offline.

Within the show there is references to sexting, online grooming, cyber bullying, relationships. The story of Peter Pan, The Happiness Effect by Donna Freitas, interactive narratives in online gaming, a range of articles and years of experience working with young people have also played a role in shaping the show.

It must be said that a lot of positive stories were shared about young people and their relationship with Social Media, and Neverland opts for celebrating the positives over the negatives but questions were raised about how the adult population support young people as they explore, curate and present their digital identity.

In a recent BBC documentary ‘Dancing For Happiness’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0btt5n1/darcey-bussell-dancing-to-happiness Dance- the outcome rich art form was viewed as an effective way to support young people in their development, to empower young people to thrive. As I reflect on my own dancing journey, I can see how cultural learning fosters resilience in young people. My practice is driven by a desire for social change, and a passion to use movement and dance as a way of developing young people. I want to create a dance and digital interactive experience that cultivates curiosity, dialogue, that sticks in people’s minds as a show that made me rethink how I was living my life, to celebrate who they are, and to empower them to be active citizens that can live authentically.

“Offering a relief from structured reality, fantasy in fact enables the reader to engage in the ordinary worlds with clearer insight and sharper perspectives, even with renewed faith.” Timmerman, 1983.

For Parents- Online Safety: Start a conversation

Children and Young People: Online Safety NSPCC

Professionals: Online Safety Resources