In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow during execution. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "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 embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just pretending 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 meaning, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "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 perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the dreams you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
