Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Top
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he states.
The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions
What about after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, 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."
Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations
His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking 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 aims his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He also is interested in staging 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 thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their home company, 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 biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a sculpted form. Does he care that the engagement 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 explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
