In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is compelling, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be filled with substance, drawing ideas from books, music, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "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 girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he muses. He likely has about decade of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
