Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem as powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow while execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the conventions is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
