Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for princely characters and partnering. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Even in more comedic works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On social media, fans can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a athletic 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 precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
