Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his cognitive workflow while execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Emotions
What about 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 Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
His determination stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, 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 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 filled with substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," 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 perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t 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. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image
On social media, followers can see clips from his projects and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
