Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally upright, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. With delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on 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 mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow while performance. Even in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
What about after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. After an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's determination originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from books, music, and art.
Intimate Dance and Private Partnership
He also favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He likely has about ten years of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
