In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem as mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor 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 encountered little ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, particularly the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, 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 substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image
On social media, fans can see videos from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care 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 explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of performing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
