Within the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is naturally upright, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful gods, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and partnering. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his mental workflow while execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel 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 remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, music, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He also favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another decade of performing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
