In the hushed 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 simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Even in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel after a performance, 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 role, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. After an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Early Motivations and Creative Influences
His determination stemmed from 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 "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is making his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is compelling, but just pretending 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 substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
