🔗 Share this article

In the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Rise 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 childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial 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 neural fatigue."

Ball's upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow during performance. Even in more comedic works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.

The Mental Struggle and After the Show Emotions

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 juice out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."

Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations

His determination originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.

An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just acting 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 ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.

Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership

He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their home company, which might be 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 favorite supporter."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another ten years of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."