In the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for princely roles and partnering. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was advanced annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty characters, especially the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his mental workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating 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 ideas from literature, music, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close 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 audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched 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. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat objectifying? 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 viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate reality to the dreams 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 gentle with myself."
