Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly upright, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and partnering. With fine features and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.
A Seamless Ascent to the Pinnacle
At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's works.
"Your lungs are burning, your legs get heavy, but it’s really a neural fatigue."
Ball's upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his cognitive workflow while performance. Even in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.
The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions
How does he feel following 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 lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"
Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."
Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations
His tenacity originated in early setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel 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 fanatical," he recalls.
An upcoming endeavor is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just acting 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.
Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic
He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"
Ball has made pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer 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 was like Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which might be 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 supporter."
On Social Media and Physical Perception
On social media, fans can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple ways.
Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a child," he reflects. He probably has about decade of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."
