Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet often offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive process during performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "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 Creative Inspirations
Ball's determination stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just pretending that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made 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." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "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—an object that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger 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 had as a child," he reflects. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
