🔗 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 carriage is naturally upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and pas de deux work. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.

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

His upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process during performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions

What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."

Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations

His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

An upcoming endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the conventions is interesting, 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 art.

Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership

He additionally favors presenting dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."

Regarding Instagram and Physical Image

On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of performing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."