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Within the hushed ambiance of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is naturally upright, his limbs defined beneath a plain white T-shirt. During performances, ballet dancers can seem like mighty gods, yet frequently in person they are small. This is not true for Ball, whose height is part of his popularity for heroic characters and pas de deux work. With delicate traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of a brooding actor about him.

An Apparent Rise to the Pinnacle

Now 31, Ball is enjoying the crest of a career that has advanced smoothly. Growing up in Liverpool, he encountered little teasing for his early passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he moved directly into the troupe and was promoted annually, attaining the top rank of principal in 2018. He has relished taking on substantial characters, particularly the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's works.

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

Ball's upcoming featured role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer behind-the-scenes perspectives into a dancer's craft. He will walk the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during execution. Yet in more comedic works, the test is profound. "A classic ballet is one of the toughest technically," he notes.

The Psychological Game and Post-Performance Emotions

How does he feel after a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he says. "However because I'm trying to extract all the emotion out of it, and get immersed in the character, quite often I do feel embarrassed later. After Mayerling I'm always like: Wow, what must people think?"

Offstage, Ball is thoughtful, polite, and quick to laugh at himself. But a dance maker once remarked on a "sense of suffering in him." Does this exist? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a melancholy streak," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy pessimism sometimes. I've always felt that doubt has been an instigator for positive change."

Early Motivations and Creative Inspirations

Ball's determination stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in competitions at school made him "driven!" This became motivation to demonstrate 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 making his own choreography. In his view, "there's nothing wrong with." "Challenging the rules is interesting, but just pretending that they’re not a thing any more – I don’t know how far you can go with that." He aims his work to be loaded with meaning, drawing inspiration from books, compositions, and painting.

Intimate Performance and Personal Partnership

He additionally is interested in presenting dance in more intimate spaces. "It was just really exciting," he says of a previous experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were thinking: 'That’s a human, and they’re sweating.'"

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The level of faith 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 matched on stage at their home company, which might be beneficial. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always hunky dory," he notes. "But I feel like we’re each other’s biggest cheerleader."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image

On Instagram, followers can see videos from his projects and photos that showcase a sculpted form. Does he mind that the engagement can be somewhat focused on appearance? Not particularly. "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—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball characterizes his early self as "desperate for success." Has it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how reality is a separate thing to the aspirations you made as a young person," he muses. He probably has about decade of performing left. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more kind with myself."