Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, 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 appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, demonstrating his cognitive process while execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once 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 negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" It was motivation 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 making his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "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 aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, music, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase 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 explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
