Tuesday, 23 December 2008

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Sex and the Style Editor

Alison Tay

Fabulous in high heels

You’re only three hours away from a sex kitten strut

Sex And The Style Editor's personal Gyrotonic Guru Sarah Toner, photographed by Bill Cooper

Meet the serendipitously named Sarah Toner. She wouldn’t look out of place playing Velma Kelly in Chicago on Broadway, and she’s a professional dancer and Gyrotonic guru whose deportment crash course - Fabulous In High Heels - will give the most uncoordinated fashionista the poise of a prima ballerina in a matter of hours.

Using her experience as a soloist and a principal dancer at the London City Ballet and The Birmingham Royal Ballet - via the bright lights of Radio City Music Hall in New York – Sarah’s devised a series of simple stretches and techniques to transform any stiletto-induced stumble into a supermodel stroll.

You wouldn’t do a 100m sprint without a warm-up, yet we cram our trotters into toe-crushing courts and expect them to do all the hard work for us without any warning.

Sarah thinks of her Fabulous In High Heels course as your rehearsal before the performance. It starts with a foot massage and gentle ankle and calf stretches, moving onto some posture exercises on one of her Gyrontonic machines, then you break out your high heels and show her what you’ve got.

Or in my case, what you haven’t got.

But after a few targeted tension releasing exercises and some pelvic floor action, Sarah fine-tuned my posture, made me connect with how my body works, and taught me how to take control of heels so vertiginous they'd make Victoria Beckham weep, instead of letting them control me.

All I need now is legs as fabulous hers. Wonder if she can help me with that, too?!

Fabulous In High Heels costs £200 for two 90 minute lessons. Visit sarahtoner.co.uk for more information.