🔗 Share this article

Within the hushed atmosphere 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 white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and partnering. With delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.

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

His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's art. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in more comedic ballets, the challenge is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and After the Show Emotions

What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"

In person, 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 active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."

Formative Motivations and Creative Influences

His determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

The next challenge is making his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the rules 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 aims his work to be filled with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and art.

Intimate Dance and Private Partnership

He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"

Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust 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 usually paired on stage at their main theater, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception

On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.

Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the dreams you made as a child," he muses. He probably has about decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."