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In the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is naturally straight-backed, his arms muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, ballet dancers can seem as powerful gods, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic roles and partnering. Possessing fine features and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced annually, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

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

His upcoming featured role is as himself, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow during performance. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Feelings

How does he feel following a performance, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel embarrassed later. Following Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "kind of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."

Formative Drivers and Creative Influences

Ball's tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel to prove 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.

An upcoming challenge is making his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "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 ideas from books, compositions, and art.

Intimate Dance and Personal Partnership

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

Ball has created duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of faith between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They are not typically paired on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

On Social Media and Physical Perception

On Instagram, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that highlight a athletic physique. Does he mind that the engagement 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 compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple ways.

Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different thing to the aspirations you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has another ten years of performing left. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."