Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, ballet dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow while execution. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the conventions is interesting, but just acting 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 books, music, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He also is interested in staging dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "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 dance films and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be a bit focused on appearance? 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 viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a separate reality to the dreams you made as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
