In the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a mental fatigue."
Ball's next featured appearance is as himself, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental process during performance. Even in more comedic ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he states.
The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings
How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."
Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests 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 fanatical," he remembers.
An upcoming challenge is making his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging 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 substance, drawing ideas from books, music, and art.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He also favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"
Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."
On Social Media and Bodily Image
On Instagram, fans can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "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 another ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
