Artistic Director
Position generously supported by Aud Jebsen
Federico Bonelli became Artistic Director of Northern Ballet in May 2022, before this he was a Principal of The Royal Ballet where he had danced since 2003.
Since joining Northern Ballet, Federico has programmed work that celebrates the Company’s rich history and has brought new voices and perspectives to the stage. Federico’s first commission for the main stage, Gentleman Jack, a co-production with Finnish National Ballet and Opera, toured in 2026 to critical acclaim and rave audience reviews. Having won the Fedora van Cleef and Arpels Dance Prize 2025, Gentleman Jack made a splash across the world with major features in the New York Times and The Guardian about the ballet. As well as bringing together a stella creative team led by choroegrapher Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Federico also engaged the local LGBTQ+ community in the production, understanding the importance of bringing Anne Lister's story to life.
Landmark revivals include Christopher Gable and Massimo Moricone’s Romeo & Juliet and A Christmas Carol which both received high audience and critical acclaim in 2024. New commissions for the company’s popular Three Short Ballets series have included works by Tiler Peck, Mthuthuzeli November, Kristen McNally and Benjamin Ella as well as staging masterpieces by Hans Van Manen and Rudi van Dantzig. In his tenure so far Federico has also commissioned two new ballets for children choreographed, Hansel & Gretel (2025) and Robin Hood (2027). These new short works created especially for young people provide many children their first opportunity to experience ballet and were choreographed by Northern Ballet company dancers.
Federico’s next full-length commission for Northern Ballet is a new Swan Lake from choreographer Rachel Baeujean. A co-production with Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux this re-telling will stay true to Swan Lake’s classical heritage and dramatic power but give Odette back her voice in a world that tries to deny her.
Federico works to broaden the range of stories represented on the ballet stage and to champion inclusivity in classical ballet. Under Federico dancers from Northern Ballet’s Ability, a programme for dancers with additional learning support needs, have performed on the main stage at Leeds Grand Theatre with the Company, and the 2024 Three Short Ballets programme saw the first inclusive piece of dance featured in that programme. Federico has also worked closely with colleagues in the Academy of Northern Ballet to launch the first MA in Classical Ballet Performance, with the first co-hort of students completing the course in 2027.
Header photo by Emily Nuttall.