In the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet often offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His determination stemmed from early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was fuel 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 obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not typically paired 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 notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "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 multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about decade of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
