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Within the quiet ambiance of a hotel bar near London's prestigious dance company, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain tee. During performances, dancers can seem as powerful deities, yet frequently in person they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and pas de deux work. Possessing delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a touch of a brooding actor about him.

A Seamless Rise to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is experiencing the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Joining the esteemed training institution at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

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

His upcoming featured appearance is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a part, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Even in more comedic ballets, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.

The Mental Game and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel following a performance, when he has pulled it off? "It's pretty good," he admits. "But because I'm trying to squeeze all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. Following an intense role I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. But a dance maker previously remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very active usually, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an catalyst for positive change."

Formative Motivations and Artistic Inspirations

His determination stemmed from early experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was motivation to prove he could achieve. Reading the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It changed everything, it made me go a bit obsessive," he recalls.

The next challenge is creating his own dance works. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Breaking the conventions 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 filled with meaning, drawing ideas from literature, music, and painting.

Intimate Performance and Private Dynamic

He also favors presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really thrilling," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. 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 level of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t typically paired on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite determined people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

On Social Media and Bodily Perception

On Instagram, fans can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the engagement can be somewhat objectifying? Not particularly. "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 multiple levels.

Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you had as a child," he reflects. He probably has about decade of dancing left. "I guess in the time to come, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."