Welcome to the strange world of MK ULTRA

Hidden symbols, occult imagery and hyper-sexualisation – it’s packaged as mainstream and sold across the world. For those in the know, Illuminati symbolism is rife in the music videos and actions of alleged puppets including Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. But what does it all mean?

Rosie Kay Dance Company’s MK ULTRA brings the debate to the stage in a high energy, luxurious production with a pulsing soundtrack of deconstructed trap music and hypnotic video projection. Suspend your (dis)belief and enter the world of mind control conspiracy theories. With creative collaborator Adam Curtis, Rosie Kay shines a fearless eye on the reality of pop culture and asks the questions that others dare not to.

Pushing the dancers to their limits, has the puppet master gone too far?

 

Behind the scenes: the documentary elements

Rosie Kay is delighted to be working with television journalist Adam Curtis. MK ULTRA explores the strange and weird stories that have risen up on the internet.  Stories that millions of young people across the world have become fascinated by - as they turn away from...

Behind the scenes: the costumes

We worked with in-demand designer Gary Card to create the costumes for MK ULTRA. Although he’s collaborated with top names including Stella McCartney, Lady Gaga and Topshop, these were his first designs for contemporary dance so it was a real treat watching his ideas...

Behind the scenes: the projections

MK ULTRA is a highly visual production with an eye-catching glossy aesthetic. We needed a set designer with an eye for creating a world onstage that would draw the audience into this Illuminati-led industry bubble, so we asked Louis Price, a film director experienced...

Behind the scenes: the music

The soundtrack for MK ULTRA is a high energy, pulsating mash-up of trap, footwork, electronic sounds and manipulated samples. It’s music that makes you want to move and drives forward the dancers’ movements, much like the all-controlling MK ULTRA programmes supposedly...

Illuminati chic: symbolism within high fashion

Vogue, W magazine, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, London designer Bobby Abley, and models Kate Moss, Coco Rocha and Chanel Iman have all used Illuminati symbolism in recent years.

The splitting of the self – inducing Dissociative Identity Disorder

The original MK ULTRA programme used nefarious methods, including electroconvulsive therapy, food/water/sleep/sensory deprivation, drugs, and pleasure/pain reversals, to induce a split in the subject’s personality so that an alter ego could be introduced. Take a look at how these celebs use an alter ego to promote hypersexuality, debasement, corruption and the death of innocence.

Illuminati Playlist 2

Our second playlist kicks off with Hold Up from Beyonce’s Lemonade album – is it about empowering women or is it promoting a darker agenda? We also take a look at Rihanna’s Rockstar, Kanye’s Power, Miley Cyrus’ duet with Robin Thicke, and Justin Bieber’s Where Are You Now. Can you spot the subliminal messaging?

The significance of butterflies

Butterflies are a common symbol associated with the Illuminati, often being placed over eyes or mouths. We explore the different theories behind their use and their relationship to Project Monarch.

Illuminati Playlist 1

Here’s our first playlist of pop music videos which feature Illuminati symbolism and triggers for mind control in the form of hypnotism, the all-seeing eye, split personalities and alter egos, occult imagery and the glamourisation of corpses.

 

Rosie Kay Dance Company creates brave new dance in Birmingham that tours to audiences at home and abroad. We thrill and move a diverse public with relevant, important, political and meaningful dance responding to contemporary society.

Join our email list