Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, 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 starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive process while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
His determination originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next challenge is making his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging 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 wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He also is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On social media, fans can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
