ToThePointe Meets Delia Mathews

When you think of the name Delia, it’s very likely you’ll think of a quintessentially British cook known for baking cakes or shouting ‘let’s be having you’ at a Norwich football game, but soon, the name will mean something completely different. I give you a new Delia to take notice of: Delia Mathews, Principal ballerina at Birmingham Royal Ballet who is on the cusp of greatness. Those in the ballet know will already be familiar with Mathews but for those who aren’t, it’s just a matter of time until she becomes a household name. Her build is everything you would look for in a classical ballerina with long limbs, beautiful arms and exquisite lines and posture. Promoted last year to Principal at the age of twenty-seven, Mathews is about to debut as Aurora in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty. Rather than turning the ballet into an acrobatic spectacle, Mathews tells me that she can’t wait to explore the development of the character. It’s clear that becoming someone else is what excites Mathews about performing but I wanted to find out more about the ballerina behind the character. We caught up at Sadler’s Wells to discuss her career to date; those dream roles and her summer wedding…

Delia Mathews, photo by Richard Battye

Mathews grew up in New Zealand where she began taking ballet class with her sister. She says that she went along and ended up loving it. I ask her when it became serious but Mathews tells me that there wasn’t a particular moment when it became clear. “I think it was more that I just couldn’t imagine doing anything else. There wasn’t one point where I thought it could be a career, instead it was as if it was always going to be.” With natural talent, it was just a matter of time before Mathews was brought over to the UK to be trained and put on the path to ballet success. “I joined BBO in New Zealand and John Travis and Brenda Last ran it the UK. They came to do a summer school with us which is where they saw me and asked me to audition in England. I got into the Royal Ballet School but my family weren’t sure if it was the right time as I was still very young. Gailene Stock, who was the head of the Royal Ballet School at the time, said I should go immediately so I had to convince my parents. Understandably, they weren’t happy with me moving to the other side of the world but it was so desperately what I wanted to do. Looking back it was an easier decision for me than it was for them.” At just fifteen, Mathews packed up and moved across the globe to begin her training at the Royal Ballet Upper School, a move which put her firmly on the path to becoming a leading ballerina. But what started her move into Birmingham Royal Ballet? “I saw them for the first time at Sadler’s Wells and thought they were a really great company then in my third year at the Upper School I began working a lot with the company in productions like The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. From working with them a lot as a student, David Bintley, the Artistic Director, offered me a job. It was a great transition for me because I already knew everyone in the company.” I can imagine that having the experience to dance with the company prior to becoming an official company member meant that when she did join, it was like coming home. The stability that BRB offered Mathews likely made being so far from home easier to deal with.

“I still miss home. I’ve been here for nearly thirteen years which is almost the same amount of time that I was in New Zealand which is quite odd because it’s half my life yet I still miss home. All of my family are over there.” It’s obvious that Delia holds her family dear to her heart and she tells me that it’s rare they all get to be with each other at the same time. I also find out that she has a twin brother (not identical) “He’s a doctor, but he has great feet and got all of the turn out – he would have been a great dancer!” Unfortunately her family can’t watch her as often as they would like and Mathews says she realises now how tough it must be for them, especially her parents. “As I get older I think I realise how hard it must have been for my parents to watch me leave. I felt I had to be a lot stronger, but it was difficult. I would love to go on tour to New Zealand that would be really special because a lot of my family over there have never seen me dance.”

Delia Mathews as Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet', photo by Andrew Ross

Being far from home must spur Mathews on more to make a home here, especially within the company, and to create great bonds with her fellow dancers. This leads me to ask her about the importance of partnerships and her connection with Soloist Brandon Lawrence, whom she regularly dances with. “Partnerships are very important and I’ve been lucky because I’ve danced with some amazing partners in the company. We have some really great male dancers at the moment. I have always thought though that audiences come to see a partnership and they want to see that connection. Sometimes you have that more with a person and I absolutely love dancing with Brandon. It just works and we know each other’s style and body. It just feels very natural and it’s always a pleasure to dance with him. I hope our partnership will continue and develop.” I’ve seen Mathews dance alongside Lawrence and it really is quite special and moving. Their partnership has the potential to be momentous because it flows so naturally. You can visibly see the way they rely and depend on each other and how much they enjoy sharing a stage together. Mathews tells me throughout our interview that she tends to get quite nervous before a performance, which must be another reason why having a steady partner makes her feel safe. “Brandon really calms me down. He gets a bit nervous but he’s normally more excited which rubs off on me. I could be in the wings stressing about my shoes and Brandon will just be like ‘it’s not an issue’. I love and need that. He’s younger than me but he doesn’t act it, he’s very mature.” One of their first big tests as a new partnership was their debut in the lead roles in Swan Lake – a performance which Delia tells me is very special to her. “It was the first full length role that I did and I had never been so nervous in my life! I remember standing in the wings wondering if I was actually going to go out onto the stage but as soon as I was there, the adrenaline kicked in and I was fine. Once I get out there and immerse myself in a role, I can really enjoy it. I really love sinking my teeth into a role and I find that it helps a lot with nerves because I’m playing someone else. It’s not me on stage.” I think that this really helps with her performances, as Delia transforms into another character we also see this in the audience. She believes she is someone else and so do we, so when she is dancing Odette in Swan Lake her performance is even more convincing as she is desperate to escape being herself on the stage.

Delia Mathews and Brandon Lawrence in 'Swan Lake', photo by Andrew Ross

It’s clear that getting into a character is a real highlight for Mathews. “I really love coming back to roles, because the first time you do it you’re still thinking about the steps and the music but it’s a lot nicer when you come back to it because you can focus more on the development of the character. I think about getting into the character a lot during the rehearsal process and how I want to play a role. By the time I get on stage it’s very much in my body. If you’ve got that background set up in rehearsals you just trust that it will be there on stage.” You can tell when you watch Delia perform that her depiction of the characters that she dances is pure and honest. She doesn’t alter styles or amend choreography to show off any tricks; instead it’s always a pure and classical performance. “I’m more into the acting side of things. It’s important to be able to do a certain level of the technique but you also have to give a good performance. I think that when the tricks become the soul of a dancer’s performance it can take away from the rest of the ballet, but if you are a dancer who can combine the two then I think that can make for something very special and exciting.” Spoken like a true classical ballerina, I applaud Mathews for bringing this up as we are finding so often when we watch ballet that dancers strive to show off their technique to the max even to the detriment of the purity of the choreography. I think that this attitude will stand her in good stead when she debuts as Aurora in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty, but more of this later.

Mathews as Juliet in Kenneth MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet', photo by Andrew Ross

I ask Delia what some of her favourite roles have been so far in her career and tells me how much she loved to dance Juliet in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. “It was amazing. I didn’t find it too hard to get into character because with Prokofiev’s music and MacMillan’s choreography you’re sort of half way there already. Marion Tait has coached me on most of my roles and Juliet was such a special role for her so we just talked about the character and shared ideas of what to do, but she gives you space for you to find your own interpretation.” Another role which Mathews loved dancing was Natalia in Frederick Ashton’s A Month in the Country. “I absolutely loved it. Anthony Dowell came in to coach it which was pretty special. I felt really ready on opening night which was a great feeling.” Mathews comes back to how much she enjoys getting into character and tells me that although she loves dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy, a role which many ballet fans love her for, she much prefers taking the time to get into a role. “There isn’t a huge character to get into with Sugar Plum and you have to wait for the whole ballet before you get onto the stage. Once you are on stage, you’re straight into the Grand Pas de Deux which is really tough. When I danced Cinderella in David Bintley’s version, there is such a clear progression because you start off bare foot in the kitchen and gradually progress onto pointe and into the tutu by the final pas de deux. It made me realise how much I like that journey throughout a ballet.”

Delia Mathews in 'A Month in the Country', photo by Bill Cooper

But what of other roles that Mathews has yet to dance? Which of these are on her bucket list? “I would love to do Giselle and also to dance in more MacMillan. His choreography is well suited to our company and I really enjoy dancing in his Elite Syncopations. I would also love to dance in Symphonic Variations.” Mathews unsurprisingly names MacMillan and Ashton ballets as Birmingham Royal Ballet were originally the touring arm of the Royal Ballet, so their connection to these choreographers makes a lot of sense. “I also love to dance in David’s (Bintley) works. There is a role called Fortuna in his ballet Carmina Burana that I’ve covered but I hope to dance it next time as it is such a wonderful role.” Delia is passionate about Bintley’s choreography and her eyes light up when she talks about contemporary work – something which surprises me as she is such a classical type of dancer. “I love how structured classical ballet is but I do love being able to let yourself go a bit and I love the freedom of contemporary dance. I would definitely like to do more.” She may be excited at the prospect of doing more contemporary dance in the future but for now Mathews is preparing to debut in the pinnacle role of classical ballet. She will dance Princess Aurora alongside Brandon Lawrence (woohoo!) in The Sleeping Beauty starting in the first weekend in February. “It’s quite daunting but I imagine that it will be really satisfying once it’s finished and I find that really exciting. I’m really looking forward to tackling one of the hardest roles for a ballerina and I’m also really excited that I will be dancing with Brandon to continue our partnership. It will be a debut for both of us so we’ll really feel like we’re going through the whole journey together.” Something that will be really difficult for Mathews is keeping her stamina up, especially during the first performance, as the nature of this ballet requires extremely difficult technique and a range of emotions which need to be convincingly portrayed on stage. “The best way to get your stamina ready for a three act ballet is just rehearsal. For me I need to know mentally that I can get through it, you don’t want any doubts. It’s psychological so I just think about each act at a time and don’t worry too much about what’s coming. Sugar Plum is difficult, especially the solo, because it doesn’t look flashy but it requires so much control.” I think that dancing Odette and Sugar Plum has put Mathews in a great position to debut in Aurora. She has that experience to dance a difficult classical role and she knows already that she can do it. I think it will be a glorious performance, made even better through her partnership with Lawrence.

Delia Mathews and Brandon Lawrence in 'The Sleeping Beauty', photo by Richard Battye

I wonder whether Mathews will look to other dancers for inspiration in preparation for her debut and for other performances in the future. “I get a lot of inspiration from Marion Tait. She was such a dramatic dancer and I watch her do her character roles today and get ideas and inspiration from that. I also look at other dancers in the company who you’re always learning from like Jenna Roberts or Nao Sakuma. I also loved watching Natasha Oughtred, she was such a dramatic dancer too.” Mathews mentions Oughtred a few times during the course of our interview and it’s clear she is someone that Mathews looks up to. She may get her inspiration from other dancers, but Mathews will now lead a younger generation who will look to her for inspiration in their craft, especially since her promotion to Principal ballerina.

The mention of Mathews’ promotion reminds me of how exciting it is that she is now a Principal at BRB. She reclines in her chair as she wistfully remembers the moment she found out. “It was the last day of the season and we had a whole company meeting with David. He spoke to us about the season and gave a really nice talk and then towards the end he announced that when he makes promotions he likes to do it in front of the whole company so I knew something was about to happen. It felt really special and quite overwhelming.” It was truly well deserved and celebrated the development of a rising classical star. The announcement came at a good time too as Mathews was able to celebrate in style. “I flew to Majorca the following morning with my girlfriends for my hen party. It was a very whirlwind time, these two huge things in my life, the promotion and my wedding, were happening together.” They say that when it rains it pours and I’ve always used this logic for positive moments in life as well. Mathews tells me that her husband is an engineer so pleasantly separated from the ballet world. “He’d never been to a ballet until he met me and I love that he’s outside of that world. Ballet can completely take over your life so it’s nice to have someone to keep you grounded. After a stressful artistic day you have someone to come home to who can talk about other things. I have a lot of friends in the ballet world but through him I now have a lot of friends outside of it. It’s very important for your health and mind.” Mathews tells me that they are quite big foodies and love to try different restaurants and places to eat. Her husband is also a keen cyclist and bought Mathews a bike to try and motivate her to join him. I ask her if she’s thought about giving him a pair of ballet shoes to motivate him into ballet. She laughs and tells me that he now loves to watch her perform. “He loves to come and watch and I love listening to his critiques. It’s great to see his point of view because he picks up on things I never would have thought of!” It’s clear that they’ve opened up new worlds for each other. He’s opened England allowing her to develop new friendships, whilst she has educated him into dance and ballet.

She may be in a formal and structured world of dance, but there is nothing uptight or rigid about Mathews. Not in the way she dances nor in the way she is in person. She’s quiet, shy at times but always natural and bright. She often seems more interested in talking about other things that don’t relate to her, making her seem quite introverted and a little hesitant but this doesn’t take away from her charm. No, Mathews is without ego and is far from a self-promoter. Instead she likes to talk more about those who inspire her, life outside of ballet and ways to learn about different characters. This inquisitive nature will equip her well in the future and she will no doubt make a beautiful Aurora. I think we are seeing the start of a big career and as one Delia retires the whisk, another puts on a pointe shoe and dances into the distance.

*Thanks to Birmingham Royal Ballet and Emma Cann