In the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can seem as mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, especially the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet 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 Feelings
What about following a show, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However 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. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very energetic 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."
Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations
Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to demonstrate 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 recalls.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is compelling, 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 loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally is interested in presenting dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps 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 biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care 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 precious about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of dancing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
