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Within the quiet ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet often offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and partnering. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Top

At 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the troupe and was advanced annually, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished tackling substantial characters, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's ballets.

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

His next starring appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, showing his mental workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions

How does he feel following a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed afterwards. After an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."

Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations

His tenacity originated in early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to demonstrate he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he remembers.

The next challenge is creating his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, music, and painting.

Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership

He also is interested in staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous show. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re sweating.'"

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of trust between them is evident. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

On Social Media and Physical Perception

On Instagram, fans can see clips from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind 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 explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various ways.

Ball characterizes his early self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a child," he muses. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."