In the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow while execution. Even in lighter works, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Inspirations
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" 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.
The next challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "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 wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust 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 are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
