In the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is naturally upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive process while performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Influences
His tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is interesting, but just acting 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 painting.
Close-Up Performance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "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 person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic physique. 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 protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the dreams you made as a child," he muses. He likely has another ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
