In the quiet 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 plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, particularly 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 upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process while execution. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel after a performance, 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 lost in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active 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."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
An upcoming challenge is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their main theater, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
