Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and piercing 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 little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, demonstrating his cognitive workflow while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just pretending 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 inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close 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 principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, 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 biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On social media, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he mind that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He likely has about decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
