In the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely characters and partnering. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process during execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After an intense role I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just pretending 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 literature, compositions, and art.
Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: '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 evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
