Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive process while performance. Yet in more comedic works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity originated in early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is compelling, but just acting 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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
