In the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely roles and partnering. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering 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 relished taking on meaty characters, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel 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 character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to demonstrate 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 dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "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 filled with meaning, drawing ideas from books, music, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He also favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "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."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind 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 relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
