In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and partnering. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his mental process during performance. Even in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. After an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Influences
Ball's determination originated in early experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was 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 fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions 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 aims his work to be filled with substance, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He likely has another ten years of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
