🔗 Share this article

Within the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like powerful gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.

A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.

"Your breath is short, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."

His upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "In Conversation" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a role, demonstrating his cognitive workflow during performance. Yet in lighter works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Feelings

How does he feel after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the role, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for good change."

Early Drivers and Artistic Influences

His determination stemmed from early setbacks. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" 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 obsessive," he remembers.

The next challenge is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the conventions 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 filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and art.

Intimate Dance and Private Partnership

He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a human, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

Regarding Instagram and Physical Image

On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, 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 multiple levels.

Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of performing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."