Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. On stage, dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, especially 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 starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process while execution. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Discovering 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 choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules 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 ideas from books, music, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps 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 Physical Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another decade of performing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
