In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like powerful gods, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial dramatic roles, particularly the emotional turmoil 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 "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his mental workflow while execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
What about following a show, 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 lost in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules 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 loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and art.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
