Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for heroic characters and partnering. With fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next starring role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his cognitive process during performance. Yet in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following 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 once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's determination stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is compelling, but just acting 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 meaning, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic
He also favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "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 human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, 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 characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
