Cruel Tales Of Youth coming to Contact
The lives of teenagers on the streets of three European cities take centre stage in Cruel Tales Of Youth,
a new show produced by acclaimed Italian multi-media company Motus and
jointly presented by Contact, Manchester and Queer Up North
International Festival. 
Inspired by Europe’s vibrant youth culture the production was
developed through an intensive period of research and rehearsal.
Visiting Ravenna (Italy), Valencia (Spain) and Berlin (Germany) Motus
filmed, interviewed and auditioned the teenagers they met on the
streets, drawing on their experiences to craft a performance exploring
issues of identity, consumerism and loneliness in post-industrial
Western society. Interweaving art forms and theatrical techniques the
result is a truly original composition that moves beyond the boundaries
of genre. A self-styled ‘show-experiment’ Cruel Tales Of Youth is part gig, part film, part dance, part performance art.
Founded in 1991 by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Niccoló Motus are
pioneers in their field. Fusing traditional movement with epic-scale
computer animation, cutting-edge music and documentary film their work
is characteristically bold, brash and visually ravishing. Multiple
winners of Italy’s acclaimed Ubu Prize for dance their repertoire has
toured extensively across the US and Europe.
Queer Up North is Manchester’s international queer festival. The
first of its type in Europe, Queer Up North commissions, produces and
presents a diverse, annual programme of live performance, art and
ideas. Since its inception in 1992 the festival has commission over 30
new performances, many of which have gone on to seen throughout the
world.
-Glenn Meads
