In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can appear like powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic roles and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle
Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's next starring role is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process during execution. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.
The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions
What about after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "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 thinking: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I am very active usually, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
Ball's determination originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" It was motivation 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 fanatical," he remembers.
The next endeavor is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is compelling, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He wants his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.
Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t 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 notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception
On social media, followers can see clips from his dance films and images that showcase a athletic physique. Does he mind that the response can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.
Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate reality to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He likely has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."
