Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem like powerful gods, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. Possessing fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"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 designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" 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 obsessive," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is compelling, 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 meaning, drawing inspiration from books, music, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He also favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the dreams you made as a child," he reflects. He probably has another ten years of performing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
