Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal 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 top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, particularly the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow while performance. Even in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
What about after a show, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is interesting, 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 meaning, drawing ideas from literature, music, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not typically matched 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. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
