In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely characters and partnering. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental process during performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to demonstrate 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.
The next challenge is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from books, music, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past 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 girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his projects and photos that showcase a sculpted physique. 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 protective about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
