In the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, demonstrating his cognitive process during execution. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic in general, 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."
Formative Drivers and Creative Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
