In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet often in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and partnering. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, showing his mental process while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. 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 "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Inspirations
His tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. 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 making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be loaded with substance, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Dynamic
He also favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be 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 cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
