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In the quiet atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his demand for princely characters and partnering. With fine features and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, especially the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.

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

His next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event designed to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will walk the audience through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is significant. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings

What about following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an catalyst for positive change."

Early Drivers and Artistic Influences

Ball's determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" It was motivation to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.

The next challenge is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules 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 loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and art.

Intimate Dance and Personal Dynamic

He also is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous show. "You’re so close to the viewers. 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 first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." They are not usually matched 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 notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On social media, fans can see clips from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic form. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has about decade of performing ahead. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."