Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally upright, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer'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 "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his mental workflow while performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became 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 fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting 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 ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "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 beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He probably has about decade of performing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
