Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem as powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process while performance. Yet in lighter works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
What about after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's 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 afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" 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 obsessive," he recalls.
The next endeavor 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 reality 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 books, music, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On social media, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He likely has about ten years of performing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
