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In the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a simple white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear as mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose tall stature is part of his demand for princely characters and partnering. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Top

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved straight into the troupe and was advanced each year, reaching the highest position of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, especially the psychological turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

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

His next featured appearance is in a talk, in an "In Conversation" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the crowd through a part, demonstrating his mental workflow during performance. Even in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he states.

The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel after a show, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic 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 instigator for good change."

Early Motivations and Artistic Inspirations

Ball's tenacity originated in youthful experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" 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.

An upcoming endeavor is making his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Breaking the conventions is compelling, but just acting 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 meaning, drawing inspiration from books, music, and painting.

Intimate Dance and Private Partnership

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

Ball has made duets with his partner, 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 usually matched 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 notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

Regarding Instagram and Physical Perception

On Instagram, followers can see videos from his dance films and photos that highlight a athletic form. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he explains. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be interpreted on multiple levels.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his expectations? "I am conscious of how life is a separate reality to the dreams you had as a young person," he reflects. He probably has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."