In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear like mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for princely roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow while performance. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Psychological Struggle and After the Show Emotions
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic 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 instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming challenge is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking 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 filled with substance, drawing ideas from books, music, and art.
Intimate Performance and Private Partnership
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He probably has another ten years of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
