Best foot for ward; SARAH BATLEY ON HOW THESE SHOES ARE HELPING WELSH NATIONAL OPERA STARS HIT THE HIGH NOTES.

ENSURING your posture is perfect is vital for a opera singer, but standing around for hours during rehearsals or striding about in performances can play havoc with your joints and muscles.

Welsh National Opera singers have come up with a cunning solution: wearing MBT shoes.

Dubbed the anti-shoe by its makers, the footwear with moulded, curved soles are recommended by physiotherapists and are designed to minimise posture problems and build lower body strength.

The opera members are busy rehearsing before heading north to Llandudno next month, then on a UK tour with Italian classics Madame Butterfly and La Traviata plus German industrial atonal epic Wozzeck.

Helen Greenaway is bent double as Cio Cio San's elderly gran in Puccini's tale of betrayal of a Japanese bride by her American lover, and is also on stage in the chorus for the other operas.

She said: "I have to walk as though I am riddled with arthritis, and I have to be bent almost double - I can't stand my full height, 5ft 9in tall, because that would me taller than Amanda Roocroft, who is Cio Cio.

"I've had back problems since my teens and always had to take care of it. In this role you stand around a long time in rehearsals or while onstage for a performance - though obviously we can't wear the MBT shoes there," said Welsh Llandudno's Helen, 42, who's sung with the WNO since 1991.

"Even though it may be a party scene often we have to be very energetic. Though I'll have ordinary shoes on then, I can cope because the MBT shoes have built up my posture so well.

"I've found the shoes support my bones and alters how I stand - my muscles have really toned up."

MBT makers say the shoes' effect is based on the principle of natural instability, such as walking barefoot on soft, uneven ground such as sand or moss. While wearing MBTs the body is forced to maintain its natural balance, stimulating and exercising the body's supporting muscle system.

Chartered physiotherapist Joshua Wies urges his patients to wear them. He said: "I see everybody from elderly patients with arthritis to athletes and busy businesspeople.

at "MBTS reduce pressure on your feet by 40%-50%, cushioning the heels and under the metatarsals on the balls of the toes. They reduce shock when you are walking on sensitive joints and so make it more comfortable to walk - meaning you will do more exercise, which is healthy. The curved soles improve your posture and builds muscle strength."

WNO singer Rosie Hay said it was a fellow choir member and a martial art fan who first passed on the secret of wearing MBTs to relieve muscle strain.

"I have an achilles tendon problem and I have found it painful to sit or stand for a long time," said Rosie, 46, who will be a geisha in Madame Butterfly.

"It doesn't make me sing better but it does make me stand in a more relaxed way because my posture is better. That has to be good for my singing - if you are tense, say in your neck, you can't sing properly."

"The shoes aren't cheap but they're extremely sturdy and I think it's money well spent because of health benefits."

. More details on shoes and where to buy at mbt.com . WNO, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly and Wozzeck, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Oct 13-17, and Liverpool Empire Oct 21-24

CAPTION(S):

Welsh National Opera will perform at Llandudno's Venue Cymru next month Opera stars Helen Greenaway (left) and Rosie Hay in the MBT shoes they say have transformed their posture