Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive process while execution. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
How does he feel following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
His determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "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 cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he mind 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 compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a child," he muses. He likely has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
