Within the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can appear as powerful gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's 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 embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership
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 person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
