Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for heroic characters and partnering. Possessing delicate 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 peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his cognitive process while performance. Even in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "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. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Influences
His determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to demonstrate 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 recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions 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 filled with meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal 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 matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "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 interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the dreams you made as a child," he reflects. He likely has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
