Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow while execution. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
What about after 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 role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions 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 meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit 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—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
