In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and partnering. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently 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 quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Drivers and Creative Inspirations
Ball's determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "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 perspiring.'"
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 audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the dreams you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
