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In the hushed atmosphere of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can seem as mighty gods, yet often in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered minimal ridicule for his childhood interest in ballet. Joining the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the psychological turmoil found in a famed choreographer's ballets.

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

Ball's next featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Even in lighter works, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he states.

The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the emotion out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following Mayerling I'm always thinking: God, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is reflective, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite energetic in general, but I do have a dark side," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."

Formative Drivers and Creative Influences

His tenacity originated in youthful setbacks. Not doing well in competitions 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 obsessive," he recalls.

The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "Challenging the conventions is interesting, 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 loaded with substance, drawing ideas from books, compositions, and painting.

Close-Up Dance and Private Dynamic

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

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level 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 paired 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 biggest supporter."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image

On social media, fans can see videos from his dance films and photos that highlight a athletic physique. Does he care that the engagement can be a bit focused on appearance? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he states. He compares it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen 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 made as a young person," he reflects. He probably has another decade of dancing ahead. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."