Within the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar 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 simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear as powerful gods, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely 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
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the company and was promoted each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial dramatic roles, particularly the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Feelings
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked 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 pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well 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 flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging 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 substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past 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 duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not typically matched on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat objectifying? 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 viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has about decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
