Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, particularly the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow during execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
Ball's determination originated in youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation 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 remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting 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 books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate 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 realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He probably has about ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
