Get in the swing of things.. EXCLUSIVE Mirrorgirl Victoria checks out latest New Year fitness craze.

Byline: BY VICTORIA MURPHY 

WHEN I hung up the phone after arranging to take part in a pole dancing class I had a slightly sick feeling.

After I'd sealed my fate by agreeing to a session, Streets Ahead dance school owner Tara Treacy said brightly: "Oh, remember to bring shorts and high heels. You'll need bare legs to stick to the pole."

Eh? What?

The last time I wore shorts and heels in public was when I was 13 and unaware the word cellulite even existed. And now I was expected to go semi-naked and strut my stuff for the nation?

But there was no going back and two days later - after I raided the cupboard for some fake tan - I found myself at the Dublin-based dance studio, tiny shorts in tow.

There were six women in the class including me, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed they all looked refreshingly, well, normal.

Instructor Nathania Herbert, 28, said: "People sometimes come here expecting the class to be full of strippers or showy people, but it's just normal girls trying a new way of getting fit.

"What I say to all the girls who come into my class is, 'Leave your inhibitions at the door'.

"I say to them, 'Look girls we are all the same. We all wobble.We all have cellulite'.

"We've all got something we're not happy with and the class is meant to be about getting over all that and feeling good and feeling sexy."

And - despite the fact I had a photographer who obviously thought he was on the best assignment ever pointing a camera at my every move - as the class went on I started to get Nathania's point.

After a warm-up we did some "basic" moves including "climbing the pole" and "hang tough".

Basic they may have been but after trying them for 10 minutes I found myself developing a whole new appreciation for the girls who do this for a living.

Pole dancing is tough, and looking sexy was the last thing on my mind as I sweated to hold the positions.

My arms were shaking as I hoisted myself into the "hang tough" move which involves hanging from the pole with your legs up behind you before sliding to the ground.

And the spinning moves might look light and breezy but it took me several goes to get my body to move round the pole instead of crashing to a halt when I lifted my legs.

But when I did get a move right and glanced at myself in the huge mirrored wall I realised I looked pretty good, and I felt good too. And concentrating so hard on the moves meant I didn't even notice that I was gasping for breath and aching - if I was hurting this much on a gym weights machine I would have given up long ago.

Nathania said: "It's easy to forget pole dancing is an art and a skill.

"The moves are hard and at first you ache all over but after a while you get used to it and the toning you get from the class is amazing.

"There is still some stigma attached to it though and when we first started the class here some people were dubious.

"What it is, is a dance skill - and it gives women confidence. It's the best feeling when you have someone who comes in shy but still has a go.

"Then they come back the next week and after a while you start noticing them maybe put in a bit of a sexy move or something and you feel great because you know it's the class giving them confidence."

And when we got to the "routine" at the end of the class I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

I'm not sure I'm ready for the nightclubs but when I got home I did find myself wondering if there was room for a pole in the flat.

Funnily enough, my boyfriend didn't have any objections.

For more information on classes at Streets Ahead visit www.streetsaheaddance.com.

What it is, is a dance skill - and it gives women confidence. It's great to see shy women come in but still have a go

CAPTION(S):

P.S. After a few more lessons I'm sure I'll be able to master some of these moves.. HEAD TURNER Laura Tierney at Streets Ahead; IN A SPIN Instructor Nathania Herbert shows how it's really done; 1. NATHANIA HELPS ME GET TO GRIPS WITH POLE; 2. A LEG UP ON POLE FOR FIRST ATTEMPT; 3. IN THE SWING OF IT NOW.. ONLY JUST; 4. THIGH SAY.. I START TO WORK THE POLE; 5. HANGING TOUGH AFTER FAB WORKOUT; Pictures: ARTHUR CARRON/COLLINS