Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty 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 neural fatigue."
His next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his cognitive process while performance. Yet in more comedic 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 Emotions
What about after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Inspirations
His determination stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next challenge is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is interesting, 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 meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created 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 resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not typically matched 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. "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 photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."