In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate 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 advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His upcoming starring appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his cognitive process during performance. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Emotions
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's determination originated in early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was 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 recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. 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 wants his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level 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 are not usually paired 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. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind 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 precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has about ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
