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 upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet often offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, particularly the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, demonstrating his cognitive process during performance. Yet 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 Post-Performance Feelings
What about after 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 character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity originated in early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting 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 person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has about decade of performing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
