Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise 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 childhood interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial dramatic roles, particularly the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His upcoming starring appearance is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his mental process during performance. Even in more comedic works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Influences
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is compelling, 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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "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 sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Has it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
