🔗 Share this article

In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet often offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and partnering. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."

His upcoming featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process while performance. Even in lighter works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance 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 squeeze all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."

Formative Motivations and Artistic Influences

His tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

The next endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions 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 wants his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.

Close-Up Performance and Private Dynamic

He also is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "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 supporter."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On Instagram, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic form. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.

Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has another ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."