Gus Payne
First Soloist
Joined The Sarasota Ballet in 2025 as a First Soloist
Born: Brighton, England
Training: The Royal Ballet School
Favorite quote: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” – John Lennon
Favorite Role: “Alain” in La fille mal Gardée by Sir Frederick Ashton. This ballet holds a special place in my heart as I remember watching it with my grandparents when I was young and I dreamed of getting to perform in it. I’ve always loved how precise and musical Ashton ballets are and being able to portray a character such as Alain who is comical and quirky but still has depth and emotion is great fun and very rewarding.
Favorite Costume: My favourite costume is the “Prince’s Friends” costume that I wore in Sir David Bintley’s Cinderella designed by John Macfarlane. The colours and details in the jacket are gorgeous and paired with the dark grey tights the costume made me feel very elegant.
Fun Fact: I’m a triplet! We are all boys, I also have an older brother and no, none of them dance.
Lead and featured roles in previous companies include: Altunaga’s City of a Thousand Trades; Acosta’s Don Quixote; Bintley’s Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella; Clugg’s Radio and Juliet; Crecis’ 24; MacMillan’s Concerto, Romeo and Juliet; Reinoso’s Black Sabbath the Ballet; Scholz’s The Seventh Symphony; Tharp’s In the Upper Room; Tuckett’s Changing Light, Lazuli Sky; Van Manen’s 5 Tangos, Solo; Wright’s The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake
Lead and featured roles include: Ashton’s Birthday Offering, Jazz Calendar, La Fille mal gardée; Balanchine’s Mozartiana, Stars and Stripes; Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café; Page’s Scorched Sky