York Theatre Royal – 5 August 2017. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
Rosie Kay Dance Company came to the York Theatre Royal with their newest dance show MK Ultra, now if you’re a person who loves their conspiracy theories that that might sound familiar. MK Ultra is a brainwashing theory that we are being controlled through the use of tv and hidden messages. As soon as the show started I was drawn into this deep world and it felt like I was watching a documentary for the first few minutes as we watched this video projected on this giant triangle which told us about MK Ultra, this draws you in so much as you start to focus on the meaning of the dance, and when the dancers some on stage you see the meaning behind moves and their interaction.
The dancing was very provocative and really plays on the use of sex symbols in media to brainwash people, there was a lot of movement centred around the lower half and a first you think ‘oooh a bit naughty’, but then you look past it and you realise that it sends a lot of messages about how media and our society is now with the trend twerking.
Throughout all of the show we were reminded about the sexualisation of people and how everyone is controlled. The best moment for this was in the second act then the company pick up a dancer and made her body move and controlled every aspect of her presence on stage. As the dancing was very ‘new age’ so was the music as it included electronic sounds and broken music rather than your classical ballet style music, this was really good in working with different sections of dance and helping draw the audience into this world of conspiracy.
The stage was completely bare except a throne in the corner and this gigantic white triangle at the back, this immediately tells the audience that is about power and the ever so famed “illuminati”. The triangle was massive and really became a focus when it needed to be, this is that part that I love, during the dancing and when the opening of the show projections were shown on this triangle and it fitted a lot of the dances well, the projections focus on the psychedelic aspect of the brainwashing, it almost became another character as it fits in so well about telling this story. The costumes were very revealing and didn’t leave much to the imagination with everyone wearing bodysuits with various symbols affiliated with the New World Order
This show is something I would go and see again as it’s my cup of tea, but I find that it may only appeal to a smaller audience rather than more commercial theatre and dance, it is obviously not PG and I wouldn’t recommend that you take kids under the age of 14 as dancing got very sexualised and there was swearing during the show. This has to be one of the best dance shows I’ve seen and I loved the whole aspect of fake news and the New World Order.