Within the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, especially the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow during execution. Even in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Influences
His determination stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in competitions 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 flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules 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 aims his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets 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 are not usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
