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In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. His posture is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can appear like mighty deities, yet often offstage they are petite. This is not true for Ball, whose height is one reason for his demand for princely roles and partnering. With fine traits and intense eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the peak of a career that has progressed smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he faced little teasing for his childhood interest in ballet. Entering the esteemed training institution at 11, he graduated straight into the company and was advanced annually, attaining the highest position of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty dramatic roles, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's works.

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

His upcoming starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series aiming to offer intimate perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his mental process during execution. Yet in lighter ballets, the challenge is significant. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding from a skill perspective," he states.

The Mental Game and After the Show Emotions

What about following a performance, when he has succeeded? "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 embarrassed afterwards. After Mayerling I'm always thinking: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and prone to laugh at himself. But a choreographer once observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I am very energetic in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he reveals. "I kind of enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for positive change."

Formative Drivers and Artistic Influences

His determination originated in youthful setbacks. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" This became motivation to demonstrate he could succeed. 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 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 ideas from literature, music, and painting.

Intimate Dance and Private Dynamic

He also favors staging dance in smaller spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so close to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"

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 daring lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." They aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which is perhaps 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 supporter."

On Social Media and Physical Perception

On social media, followers can see clips from his dance films and photos that showcase a athletic physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit objectifying? Not particularly. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be seen on various levels.

Ball describes his early self as "desperate for success." Did it met his expectations? "I feel very aware of how life is a different reality to the aspirations you made as a child," he reflects. He probably has another decade of dancing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."