An Interview With Varna International Ballet Dancer Bayley Webster

Born in Northam in 2000, Bayley Webster trained at The School of Ballet Theatre UK before joining Ballet Theatre UK, where he performed a wide range of classical roles over three seasons.

In 2023, he joined Varna State Ballet, performing internationally and taking on major productions including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Cinderella. As the company tours the UK, Bayley talks about returning home to perform, the realities of touring life, and what audiences can expect.

When did you join Varna International Ballet?

I started at Varna International Ballet at the beginning of the 23/24 season.

Which roles do you play?

On this tour I will play the roles Time, Bees and the Ball in Cinderella. In Swan Lake dancing the waltz and Mazurka and in The Nutcracker parents, Mouse King, Drosselmier!

Where did you train?

I started dancing in 2006 at The Sarah Anne Westcott School of Dance. Whilst I was training here in 2014 I was part of the British Ballet Organisation as a male Scholar where I went to London every month to further my training with other boys from around the country. After this when I graduated Secondary School in 2016 I was offered a place at The School of Ballet Theatre UK where I graduated with a first class honours degree in Ballet Performance.

Swan Lake

What excites you most about this tour?

I’m really excited to be coming back to England to perform again as I’ve not performed in the UK for over 3 years. It will also be nice to visit some theatres that I have performed in before as well as exploring some new stages around the UK that I’ve not visited before! It will also be exciting to bring some new repertoire that I’ve not danced before that has been choreographed by Sergei Bobrov the artistic director of Varna state opera whose choreography brings a variety of style accompanied with some very well known classical scores.

What are the biggest challenges of a tour of this scale?

I think that one of the biggest challenges whilst being on tour is that we will be on a tight schedule some days especially when we have double show days! For us as dancers it’s really to keep our health and fitness up during more intense periods of the tour so making sure we have time between shows to warm up correctly and to stay well maintained throughout the tour to make sure that the risk of injuries is low!

Which of the ballets is your favourite, and why?

My favourite ballet that we are bringing on tour this year is The Nutcracker because it means that it’s the festive time and everyone is excited about Christmas! So, for us as dancers to be able to bring joy and festive spirit to the audience is really rewarding.

How do you keep your energy levels up for the whole tour?

During the tour for us as dancers it’s a very intense period. Making sure that we are maintaining good levels of rest is really important for us! Some days we spend many hours on the bus which is great for us to rest the muscles and use the time wisely such as using different pieces of equipment to help soothe any pain we might have!

What can audiences expect from the performances?

All three productions have different stories but feature lots of high energy and artistry, making sure that we have the audience’s full engagement from beginning to end! The audience should expect different styles throughout each performance, too.

The Varna Ballet company visit Bradford Live in January 2026