Shape & Express Your Identity
How do I feel safe and connected online?
Shape & Express Your Identity is a project that focuses on strengthening the mental health of young people from newcomer classes in secondary education. Together with Amsterdam secondary school students, we will work to create more awareness about the influence of social media. We bring the online world back to offline, by allowing young people to work together in real life and experience connection. In this way, we build self-confidence, expression and stronger mental health.
Creative workshops
During three project days, the participants of Shape together build a complete production for a musical performance. In different - pre-chosen - teams, the young people will work on:
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Songwriting & singing: song/rap writing, vocal technique and stage presentation
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Music production: create, produce, and record beats and soundscapes
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Video production: making video clips in collaboration with the songwriters and music production
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Decor & Styling: getting creative with textiles and other materials
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Show team: rehearsing a choreography for the show
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Marketing & Promotion: vlogging, posters & flyers
The final performance is planned on day three – an inspiring concert that everyone can be proud of.
The theme of mental health in relation to social media is the common thread in all workshops. By working together and communicating openly with each other, participants not only develop their creativity, but also their social skills. That is what makes the end result so valuable: creative, authentic and jointly created.
Why Shape?
The mental health of young people is under pressure. Research by the Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau shows that as many as 60% of Amsterdam secondary school students suffer from mental-emotional problems, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness or depression. In four years, this percentage has increased by 10%, partly due to the influence of social media.
Stimulate awareness
With Shape & Express Your Identity, we want to turn the tide. We talk to young people about self-image, safety and connectedness – both online and offline. Through music and creativity, we stimulate awareness: How do you feel safe online? How do you stay true to yourself? And: are you the director of your own life, or do you let yourself be steered by your environment?
Participate with your school!
Are you enthusiastic about this project and would you like to participate with your school? That is possible! In the autumn of 2025, we will organise Shape at five secondary schools in Amsterdam. Let us know if you are interested and we wil talk further about the possibilities.
For more information or to register for your school, please contact Evelien Graat via info@soundsforfreedom.com
Want to learn more?
Download the brochure!
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Pilot February 2025
In February 2025, the Shape pilot started at the Montessori Lyceum Oostpoort in Amsterdam. For three days, ninety students from newcomer classes immersed themselves in everything that comes with making a music show: from songwriting and music production to dance, styling, vlogging and video. In the songwriting workshops, the focus was on what the impact of social media has on your emotional life and how you can deal with insecurity.
Every day a well-known artist performed, and during the final show the students themselves shone with performances, but also behind the scenes in the production and technique and the décor. An inspiring kick-off, which tastes like more!
After movie pilot
Curious about the pilot?
Watch the after movie starring
