NINE non-professional Hereford dancers will join the cast of Dear Body at The Courtyard on Thursday, February 5, after attending workshops several weeks ago.

Among them is Marie Troake, who said: “I’m so excited to be involved in a professional dance show.”

Dear Body is a development of B For Body, the showstopping 15-minute piece about the highs and lows of one woman’s (Sally Marie) desperate quest for the perfect body that won Luca Silvestrini the audience vote and a place in the Place Prize 2006 finals. Sally Marie won a nomination for a Spotlight Award from the Critics’ Circle and an award for Best Female Performer from Dance Europe.

Dear Body delves into our deepest desire to attain the impossible – physical perfection – and examines the the lengths people will go to, driven by media hype and social pressure, to attain the perfect look and asks the question, is it worth it?

Sally Marie reprises her role in Dear Body and is joined by David Lloyd, Vicki Manderson, Nuno Silva, Michael Spenceley and Sarah Storer, who lure Sally into their obsessive world of physical transformation.

Film and animation by Rachel Davies transports the cast and the audience to different places on the performers’ emotional journey. Fabrice Serafino’s set is quietly clinical; the music, partly composed by David Coulter, mixes atmospheric new-age and classical vibes while the lighting, by Jackie Shemesh, ranges from the cruel white light of reality to the darker hues of the characters’ journey.

Dear Body is on Thursday, February 5, at 7.30pm. To book, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk