🔗 Share this article

Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet often in person they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on substantial characters, especially the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.

"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."

His next starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow while performance. Even in lighter ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Psychological Game and After the Show Emotions

How does he feel following a show, 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 immersed in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite 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 positive change."

Formative Drivers and Artistic Inspirations

His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.

An upcoming challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules is interesting, but just pretending 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 books, music, and painting.

Close-Up Dance and Personal Partnership

He also favors staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has made pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically matched on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception

On Instagram, followers can see clips from his projects and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on various ways.

Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has 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 probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."