Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet often in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his mental process during execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is interesting, 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 literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically 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 admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about decade of performing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
