Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his cognitive process while execution. Even in lighter works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Influences
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next challenge is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules 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 wants his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically 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 notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another decade of performing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
