In the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is naturally upright, his arms defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial dramatic roles, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, demonstrating his cognitive process during execution. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Emotions
How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting 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 filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He also favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, 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 was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat objectifying? 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 interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of performing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
