Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely roles and partnering. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.
An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, particularly the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental process during execution. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.
The Psychological Game and After the Show Emotions
What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Early Drivers and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel 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. For Ball, "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 literature, compositions, and painting.
Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership
He also favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps 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."
Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception
On Instagram, followers can see videos from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.
Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a child," he muses. He likely has about ten years of performing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
