Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his mental process while performance. Even in more comedic works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.
Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He probably has about decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
