Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for 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 Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his mental process while performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Emotions
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic 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 positive change."
Early Drivers and Creative Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor 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 thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He also is interested in 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 realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps 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 favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "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—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of performing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
