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In the hushed atmosphere of a lounge near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a simple white T-shirt. On stage, dancers can appear as mighty deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his demand for heroic characters and partnering. With delicate traits and intense eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he faced minimal ridicule for his early interest in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the troupe and was advanced annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on meaty characters, especially the psychological angst found in a famed choreographer's works.

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

His next starring role is as himself, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's art. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his mental workflow while performance. Yet in lighter works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest from a skill perspective," he notes.

The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It feels pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel self-conscious afterwards. After an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is reflective, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a dance maker once remarked on a "kind of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for good change."

Early Drivers and Artistic Influences

Ball's tenacity stemmed from youthful setbacks. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became fuel to prove he could succeed. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "pivotal" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

The next endeavor is creating his own dance works. In his view, "organic movement has value." "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 wants his work to be loaded with substance, drawing inspiration from literature, compositions, and painting.

Close-Up Performance and Personal Partnership

He additionally is interested in staging dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous 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 duets with his partner, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple are not usually paired on stage at their home company, which is perhaps healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he admits. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest supporter."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On social media, followers can see clips from his projects and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he mind that the response can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He relates it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on various ways.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a different thing to the dreams you made as a young person," he muses. He likely has about decade of performing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."