In the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive process while performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "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 thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very 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 catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, 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." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, but just acting 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 meaning, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "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 partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed 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 Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
