In the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely roles and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, demonstrating his mental process while performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a thing 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 literature, music, and art.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
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 audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
