RESEARCHING conspiracy theories since 2012 has led to Rosie Kay creating MK Ultra, her new dance piece inspired by the bizarre realm of pop culture, mind control conspiracies and Illuminati imagery.

On tour from March 23 to May 18, the work will be performed at York Theatre Royal for one night only on Wednesday at 7.30pm as the Rosie Kay Dance Company returns to the city where Kay presented 5 Soldiers at Imphal Barracks in June 2015. Or, rather, 4 Soldiers after an injury suffered earlier in the day forced a hasty re-configuration with fewer dancers.

"I don't know how we re-did it in such a short time," recalls Rosie. "It gave me the shudders. It was literally in the last minute of the rehearsal when it happened, but because he [Sean Marcs] had injured his neck, we had to send him to A&E to be checked out. He got his head caught, pulled his neck, so he had to have an expert look at it."

The Army is now backing the Rosie Kay Dance Company on another tour of 5 Soldiers, while MK Ultra is on its debut travels. "It ties in with the new show in that we don't believe what our leaders say any more; we don't believe in what we're told are facts; we don't believe what we read," says Rosie.

"Even six months ago, mentioning my work looking at conspiracy theory would have drawn a snort from many over the age of 25, but it's different now. ‘Fake News’ and ‘Alternative Facts’ have become the news and the fragile balance of trust between truth, the news, our leaders and the media has been fractured."York Press:

Choreographer and director Rosie Kay

In particular, Rosie has noted young people's "disintegration of belief in our leaders and the stories they tell us", as she studied false flag attacks, false news and alternative theories on mainstream news items, together with theories on shadowy elites, occult sects, secret societies, modern witchcraft, assassinations and celebrity deaths.

"There's now a massive distrust of everything among children and teenagers, even ten to 12 year olds are aware that sometimes messages are being fed to them, where they didn't want that information brought them that way on social media, going from serious stories to something about Kim Kardashian.

"They don't trust what they see or read, when it makes them feel anxious, so they keep looking to find the truth. There's something bigger going on now about not believing stories, where there's a new mythology being created. I read somewhere that it's no longer about what people think but about what they feel, when faced with information."

Rosie has had "such fun" choreographing MK Ultra. "It's presenting this high production-value world that seems superficial but keeps going until we enter an alternative belief system, so you're watching a performance of this world but also the destruction of stories before your eyes, challenging icons," she says. "I hope it's fun, but that we give it a political edge too, saying something about the bubble we're living in.

"There's no 'opposition' in this country, which is a huge problem. There's a vacuum that can be filled with nonsense and pop culture or alternatively with a clever politician talking about values we could believe in; something more honourable."

For tickets for Wedenesday's show, ring 01904 623568 or book online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk