Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his mental workflow during performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Emotions
What about following a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity originated in youthful 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 "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, 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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image
On social media, fans can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "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 seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations 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."
