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Within the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can seem as mighty deities, yet often offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and partnering. Possessing delicate features and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Top

At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, particularly the emotional turmoil found in a famed choreographer's works.

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

Ball's next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series designed to offer intimate insights into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his mental process during performance. Yet in more comedic works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and After the Show Feelings

What about after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However 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 Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense 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 doubt has been an catalyst for good change."

Formative Motivations and Creative Inspirations

Ball's determination originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

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 reality any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with substance, drawing ideas from literature, music, and art.

Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership

He also is interested in staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The level of faith between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled 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. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image

On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that highlight a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on various levels.

Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."