Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is naturally upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. On stage, ballet dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive process while performance. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "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 wants his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith 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 aren’t usually matched on stage at their main theater, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the response 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 compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
