Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive process while execution. Yet in more comedic works, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone 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 negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just acting 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 loaded with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Private Dynamic
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so close 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 trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He likely has another decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
