Within the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next starring appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental process while execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "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 inspiration from literature, music, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow principal 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 resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually matched on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed 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 videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
