In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. On stage, dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial dramatic roles, especially the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his mental process while 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 Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic usually, 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."
Early Drivers and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
An upcoming challenge is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is interesting, but just pretending 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 ideas from literature, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various levels.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about decade of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
