Federico Bonelli appointed artistic director of Northern Ballet

[volcanohunter]

Federico Bonelli will succeed David Nixon as artistic director of Northern Ballet on May 1. This also means that Bonelli's performing career with the Royal Ballet is coming to an end.

https://northernballet.com/news/press-release/2022/01/northern-ballet-announces-new-artistic-director

https://www.roh.org.uk/news/royal-ballet-principal-federico-bonelli-appointed-as-artistic-director-of-northern-ballet

[JMcN]

The announcement this morning came out of the blue!!

I've loved Federico Bonelli as a dancer and I know that he has been doing a lot of work to prepare for management over the last couple of years.  I sincerely hope he is a good fit with NB as David Nixon's boots are huge to fill.

Federico Bonelli is taking over a company that is in wonderful form.  Obviously the Spring Tour is already set and the company has recently announced the Autumn/Winter tour so the first we will see of his programming will be in 2023,

 

 

 

[miliosr]

I found this news somewhat surprising at first as Bonelli is/will be 44 this year and is still performing at a high level. But his leaving now, even though he could have continued on as a principal at the Royal Ballet for several years to come, shows that he's an adherent of the old saying: "You want to leave things just a little before they leave you."

[JMcN]

7 hours ago, miliosr said:

I found this news somewhat surprising at first as Bonelli is/will be 44 this year and is still performing at a high level. But his leaving now, even though he could have continued on as a principal at the Royal Ballet for several years to come, shows that he's an adherent of the old saying: "You want to leave things just a little before they leave you."

 

Perhaps it was just the timing of the job coming up.  If he wants to stay UK-based then there are limited opportunities.

I know some London-based chums thought he may have gone for the ENB job when Tamara Rojo's departure was announced but this one was already up for grabs.

Northern Ballet is very much a touring company in the UK so I hope he is prepared for the constant travelling during the seasons, which will be a very different experience from having one base in London.

 

[Ashton Fan]

On the basis of this season's performances  Bonelli has looked good for a couple of more seasons but at the end of the day only he knows how much of a toll these recent performances are taking on him physically. The old saying which advises the dancer to"Give up the stage before it gives you up" still holds good but as to how a dancer knows that it is time to go local wisdom at the Royal Ballet, and no doubt in company's across the globe seems to be "You will know". Watson talking about his own retirement was asked how he knew it was time for him to retire and said that it was the very question he had asked older dancers when he was younger. They had told him "You will know" which at the time he had not thought a very helpful answer but had in fact proved to be true for him. In Bonelli's case it seems that hos retirement was prompted by the right job coming up at the right time. I had half expected that when the time came for Bonelli to retire he would go to the school to teach but the RBS' loss is certainly Northern Ballet's gain. Northern is a company which under David Nixon its current director has promoted the creation of new narrative works. It will be interesting to see in what direction Bonelli will choose to take  the company.

Retirements are usually carefully planned at the Royal Ballet with a performance in a chosen role available to the paying public marking the end of the dancer's career. In this case it seems that it was the vacancy at Northern and his successful candidacy which prompted Bonelli's departure as his final Swan Lake of the season is a performance which is not open to the ordinary ballet goer. Kevin will have to resolve this situation.The problem is that simply changing the schedule will leave many people upset, those who booked for the cast cast originally advertised and those who want to see Bonelli's re-scheduled final performance but either can't find a ticket or find the new date inconvenient. It is not entirely clear how Kevin is going to resolve this issue. One solution might be to hold the farewell performance over to next season  which I think according to the revival timetable should be a Manon year. We await further announcements about the date and time of this right of passage.

Retirements come in most seasons but this is the season which will have the greatest impact on the company as far as the senior male line up is concerned. Kevin's idea of what the Royal Ballet is, and should be, becomes clearer as in turn each of Mason's principal dancers leave the stage. By the beginning of next season we will know what the male side of the company is likely to  look like for years to come. It may well be that by then it will be clear which dancers are likely to be leading the company in its centennial year which is only nine years away.

 

 

 

 

[volcanohunter]

This may be slightly distressing for people who thought they had tickets to Bonelli's final performance. He will dance his final Siegfried a week from today.