In 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 upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow while performance. Even in lighter works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze 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 thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering 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 making 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 substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually 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. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about ten years of performing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
