In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow during performance. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet 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. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Influences
His determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a reality 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 Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his projects and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
