Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is making his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, 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 loaded with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
