Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in lighter works, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. 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 challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "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 loaded with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," 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 healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has about decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
