Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful gods, yet often offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his cognitive process while performance. Even in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Influences
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree 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." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat 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—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has about decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
