Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his cognitive process during execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is compelling, 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 inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the viewers. 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 level of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement 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 explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
