Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem as mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for princely characters and partnering. With fine traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"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 designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions 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 remembers.
The next challenge is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions 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 wants his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually 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 admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
