Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was promoted annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow while performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "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 books, compositions, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, 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." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their main theater, which might be 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 favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit 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 relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of performing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
