🔗 Share this article

In 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 upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet often offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Top

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."

Ball's next featured role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process during execution. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions

How does he feel following 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 lost in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. After an intense role I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."

Formative Drivers and Creative Influences

His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.

The next endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking 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 aims his work to be loaded with substance, drawing ideas from literature, compositions, and painting.

Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic

He additionally favors staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"

Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, 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."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception

On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response 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 compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about decade of performing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."