Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow while execution. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to prove he could succeed. Reading 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 challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is compelling, but just pretending 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, 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 was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has another decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
