Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can seem like mighty deities, yet often in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial dramatic roles, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
His upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his mental process during execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
What about following a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Motivations and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules is compelling, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from literature, music, and art.
Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "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 favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his projects and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He likely has about decade of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
