In the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful gods, yet often offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his early passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive process during execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
What about following 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 immersed in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, 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."
Early Motivations and Artistic Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "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 wants his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps 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."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He probably has another ten years of dancing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
