Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive process during performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His determination stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a sculpted form. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
