In the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet often offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic 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
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"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 "In Conversation" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is compelling, but just pretending 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 substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "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 biggest supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
