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In the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his arms defined beneath a simple tee. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as powerful gods, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is part of his popularity for princely characters and partnering. Possessing fine features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Top

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the crest 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 straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved tackling meaty characters, particularly the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.

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

Ball's upcoming starring role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive process while execution. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.

The Mental Game and Post-Performance Feelings

How does he feel after a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel embarrassed afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."

Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations

Ball's determination originated in early setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.

The next endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the rules 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 filled with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and art.

Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership

He also favors staging dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past 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 made duets with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically matched on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite cheerleader."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On social media, followers can see videos from his dance films and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball characterizes his younger self as "eager for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different reality to the dreams you made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."