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Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders 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 in person they are petite. Not so Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and partnering. Possessing delicate features and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the company and was promoted annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved tackling substantial characters, particularly the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

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

His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he notes.

The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings

What about after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious later. Following an intense role I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."

Formative Drivers and Artistic Influences

Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to prove he could succeed. Reading 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 endeavor is making his own dance works. For Ball, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing ideas from books, music, and painting.

Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership

He additionally favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the audience. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has created pieces with his partner, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a daring lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple are not typically paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."

On Social Media and Physical Perception

On social media, followers can see videos from his projects and images that highlight a sculpted form. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on multiple ways.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He likely has about ten years of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."