In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely roles and partnering. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow during performance. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after 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 immersed in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling 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 previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, 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 inspiration from literature, music, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. 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 level of faith 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 main theater, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat 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—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
