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In the hushed ambiance of a hotel bar near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball requests a mint tea. His carriage is effortlessly straight-backed, his limbs muscular beneath a plain tee. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like powerful deities, yet frequently offstage they are small. Not so Ball, whose tall stature is one reason for his popularity for princely characters and pas de deux work. With fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered minimal teasing for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved straight into the company and was advanced each year, reaching the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has relished tackling meaty characters, especially the emotional turmoil found in Kenneth MacMillan's works.

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

Ball's next starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" event aiming to offer behind-the-scenes insights into a dancer's art. He will guide the crowd through a role, showing his mental workflow while performance. Yet in more comedic works, the challenge is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the most demanding technically," he notes.

The Mental Struggle and Post-Performance Emotions

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

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

Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations

Ball's determination stemmed from youthful experiences. Not doing well in contests at school made him "driven!" This became fuel to demonstrate he could achieve. Discovering the book *Mao's Last Dancer* was a "watershed" moment. "It flipped a switch, it made me go a bit fanatical," he remembers.

The next challenge is creating his own choreography. For Ball, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just acting that they’re not a thing 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 books, music, and painting.

Close-Up Performance and Private Partnership

He additionally favors presenting dance in more intimate venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past show. "You’re so near to the viewers. 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 degree of faith between them is clear. "We first practiced on a beach," he says of a audacious lift. "It resembled Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t typically paired on stage at their main theater, which might be beneficial. "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."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Perception

On Instagram, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he mind that the engagement can be a bit objectifying? Not really. "The body is just what we work with, so I don’t feel very precious about it," he explains. He compares it to seeing Michelangelo’s David—something that can be interpreted on multiple levels.

Ball describes his younger self as "desperate for success." Did it lived up to his expectations? "I feel very aware of how reality is a different thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has another ten years of performing left. "I guess in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."