Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming starring appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
What about after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a reality 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 literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, 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." They are not usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement 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 explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He likely has another decade of performing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
