Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is naturally upright, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process while performance. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's 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 Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading 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 endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be filled with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat 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 seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
