Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for princely roles and partnering. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, especially the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
His next featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process during performance. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings
What about following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Drivers and Creative Influences
His tenacity stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.
The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules 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 wants his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from books, music, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."
On Social Media and Bodily Perception
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase a athletic form. Does he care 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 relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various ways.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has another decade of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
