In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Even in lighter ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.
The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active 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 instigator for positive change."
Formative Drivers and Artistic Influences
His tenacity originated in early experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation 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 fanatical," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "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 loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
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 daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic form. 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 seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another ten years of performing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
