Within the hushed 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 muscular beneath a simple tee. During performances, dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and partnering. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Top
At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.
"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a role, demonstrating his mental workflow during execution. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
What about after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"
In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."
Formative Drivers and Creative Influences
Ball's tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.
The next challenge is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, 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 filled with substance, drawing ideas from literature, music, and painting.
Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic
He also is interested in 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 human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created 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 audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically 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 admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."
On Social Media and Physical Image
On Instagram, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, 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 various ways.
Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
