Young Kiwi ballerina prepares for London

Delia Matthews faces annual expenses of $80,000 at the Royal Ballet School. Picture / Alan Gibson

Delia Mathews has only just got into London's prestigious Royal Ballet School, but she knows what she wants when she graduates.

The delicate but ambitious Tauranga teen wants to dance with the best at the Royal Ballet Company.

"I want to be principal dancer."

At 15, Delia is the youngest girl and one of only 28 ballet dancers accepted into the school this year.

She is also one of few New Zealanders to make it through the rigorous audition process for the three-year course, which leads dancers to careers in the world's top ballet companies.

Leading New Zealand dancers Rowena Jackson and Russell Kerr were graduates.

Delia, who has studied ballet since she was 5, was invited to London for the audition in March after the school saw a video of her dancing.

She also tried out for two other ballet schools while there.

Her mother, Sally, said the family were in shock when they learned she had been accepted for all three.

"We knew she was good but not quite that good."

Delia's parents were initially reluctant to allow their youngest daughter, who has three siblings, including a twin brother, to live on the other side of the world.

They were persuaded when the school offered her a partial scholarship for tuition in the first year.

Tuition fees alone cost 14,500 ($37,420) a year.

Delia's family will have to come up with $80,000 a year to cover her expenses, including food, accommodation and the physio and costumes ballet dancers require.

Delia, who has won numerous national ballet awards, leaves in September to begin her new life. "I'm excited but a bit nervous," she said.

For the first year she will live in a hostel with other students, and will have to cook and do her own laundry.

But she does not expect her dancing routine to change too drastically.

Delia, who studies by correspondence, already devotes most of her time to ballet.

She trains from 4pm to 9pm every weekday at Tauranga's Dance Education Centre and all day Saturday and usually Sunday.

She said she never tires of ballet, telling her father when she was 7: "I'm a dancer - you'd better get used to it."

Her teacher, Debbie Gooch, said Delia's talent was extraordinary, and was complemented by her mental strength. "Even with a great body, you've got to have the stuff on the inside, which is the heart."