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Within the quiet atmosphere of a lounge near London's Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball orders a mint tea. The dancer's carriage is effortlessly upright, his arms muscular 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 tall stature is part of his demand for heroic roles and pas de deux work. Possessing fine traits and piercing eyes, there's a hint of Robert Pattinson about him.

An Apparent Ascent to the Pinnacle

At 31, Ball is experiencing the crest of a career that has progressed seamlessly. Raised in Liverpool, he encountered little ridicule for his childhood passion in ballet. Entering the Royal Ballet School at 11, he graduated directly into the company and was advanced each year, attaining the top rank of lead dancer in 2018. He has loved taking on meaty characters, especially the emotional angst found in a famed choreographer's ballets.

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

His upcoming starring role is in a talk, in an "Evening With" series designed to offer intimate perspectives into a performer's craft. He will guide the audience through a role, showing his cognitive workflow during performance. Even in lighter works, the test is profound. "Don Quixote is one of the toughest technically," he states.

The Mental Game and After the Show Feelings

How does he feel following a show, when he has succeeded? "It's pretty good," he admits. "However because I'm trying to extract all the juice out of it, and get lost in the character, frequently I do feel self-conscious afterwards. Following an intense role I'm always like: God, what must people think?"

In person, Ball is thoughtful, mild-mannered, and prone to laugh at himself. Yet a choreographer previously observed on a "sense of suffering in him." Is there? "I'm quite active in general, but I do have a dark side," he confesses. "I somewhat enjoy negativity sometimes. I've always felt that negativity has been an instigator for good change."

Early Motivations and Artistic Influences

His tenacity stemmed from early experiences. Not excelling in contests at school made him "vengeful!" It was fuel 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 fanatical," he remembers.

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

Close-Up Performance and Personal Dynamic

He additionally is interested in presenting dance in smaller venues. "It was just really exciting," he says of a past experience. "You’re so near to the viewers. I felt as if they were realizing: 'That’s a person, and they’re perspiring.'"

Ball has created pieces with his girlfriend, fellow lead dancer Mayara Magri. The degree of trust between them is evident. "We tried it out on the beach first," he says of a audacious lift. "It was like Dirty Dancing." The couple aren’t usually matched on stage at their home company, which might be healthy. "We’re both quite strong-willed people, so it’s not always smooth sailing," he notes. "Yet I feel like we’re each other’s favorite supporter."

Regarding Instagram and Bodily Image

On social media, fans can see videos from his projects and images that showcase a sculpted physique. Does he care that the response can be a bit focused on appearance? Not really. "The body is just what we use, so I don’t feel very protective about it," he states. He relates it to viewing Michelangelo’s David—an object that can be seen on multiple levels.

Ball describes his early self as "eager for success." Did it met his hopes? "I am conscious of how life is a separate thing to the dreams you had as a young person," he muses. He likely has about ten years of dancing ahead. "I suppose in the future, I want to be a bit more gentle with myself."