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Within the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly upright, his arms defined beneath a plain tee. On stage, dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are petite. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced minimal teasing for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was promoted annually, reaching the top rank of principal in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.

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

Ball's upcoming starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a part, demonstrating his cognitive workflow while execution. Even in lighter works, the test is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel after a performance, when he has succeeded? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the role, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once observed 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 somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."

Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations

Ball's determination originated in youthful experiences. Not doing well in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. 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 endeavor is creating his own choreography. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the rules is compelling, 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 filled with meaning, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.

Intimate Performance and Personal Dynamic

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

Ball has made duets with his girlfriend, fellow principal Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually paired on stage at their main theater, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception

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

Ball characterizes his younger self as "desperate for success." Has it lived up to his hopes? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he muses. He likely has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."