Artistic Director
Position generously supported by Aud Jebsen
Italian dancer Federico Bonelli was a Principal of The Royal Ballet and joined the Company in 2003. On 2 May 2022 he became the Artistic Director of Northern Ballet.
Federico was born in Genoa and grew up in Casale Monferrato, he trained locally and at the Turin Dance Academy. His awards include first prize at the Rieti International Ballet Competition and a Prix de Lausanne scholarship. He joined Zürich Ballet in 1996, promoted to Soloist in 1997. He joined Dutch National Ballet in 1999, promoted to Principal in 2002.
Federico’s repertory with The Royal Ballet includes all the classical ballets, Romeo, Daphnis, Lensky, Onegin, Palemon (Ondine), James (La Sylphide), Armand (Marguerite and Armand), Pierrot (Pierrot Lunaire), Des Grieux (Manon), Crown Prince Rudolf (Mayerling), Apollo, Aminta (Sylvia), Jack/Knave of Hearts (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Malin (Age of Anxiety) and roles in After the Rain, Polyphonia, Agon, Requiem, Tombeaux, Ballet Imperial, Homage to The Queen, Voluntaries, Four Temperaments, Theme and Variations, Serenade, Dances at a Gathering, L’Invitation au voyage and Ballo della regina. His role creations for the Company include Polixenes (The Winter’s Tale), Dr Samuel-Jean Pozzi (Strapless), Victor (Frankenstein) and roles in Chroma, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse, Live Fire Exercise, Aeternum, The Human Seasons, Tetractys, Woolf Works, Acosta’s Carmen and Multiverse.
In 2019 Federico graduated from the Clore Leadership Programme (The Clore Fellowship). He curated the programme for The Royal Ballet activities in Doncaster as part of the Doncaster Creates festival, prior to its pandemic postponement and has coached Royal Ballet repertory, helping to nurture and develop the high standards of the company’s dancers. Federico also co-facilitates The Royal Ballet’s Inclusivity Focus Group, a process that brings together dancers and management of the company to discuss all areas of Diversity and Inclusion, with the aim to influence strategic and operational decisions at The Royal Ballet.
Federico is a non-executive director and member of the Board of Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA), an Arts Council supported charity that promotes an arts sector that is inclusive of the parent and carer workforce. Furthermore, he is a member of the external Steering Group of Chance to Dance, The Royal Ballet’s outreach talent development programme that aims to remove the barriers to a diverse talent pipeline into vocational training and the ballet and dance profession.
Federico is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Header photo by Andrej Uspenski.