Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his mental process while performance. Yet in more comedic works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."
Formative Motivations and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel 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 obsessive," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "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 wants his work to be filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership
He also is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "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 pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Image
On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a child," he muses. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
