Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet often offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 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. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, particularly the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming challenge is making his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging 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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted 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 relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
