In the quiet 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 defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles 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 Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial 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 next featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his cognitive process while execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has succeeded? "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 embarrassed later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early 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 "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules 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 wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response 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 states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
