Federico Bonelli Reviews, Farewell and Appreciation Thread 2022

[Emeralds]

18 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I do slightly wonder whether this is further reason for Morera/Bracewell to do the Friends' Rehearsal, as Ball and Muntagirov are both scheduled for the following day.

That’s a very good point, Lizbie1. Hope the new casting works out, and nobody gets injured. I do remember Federico Bonelli dancing A Month in the Country with Natalia Osipova when she made her debut in the ballet, who is (ironically) now partnered by.....William Bracewell, making his debut, who is also now Bonelli’s replacement! I also remember Bonelli in Rhapsody with Morera, so it would have been quite a nice send off if he’d been in this triple bill too. 

[Anna C]

On 25/02/2022 at 17:52, Sim said:

It has just been announced by the RB that Federico will not now be dancing in Month on April 30th.  This is soooo disappointing but I am very glad and grateful that I have tickets to his final show with the RB, which will be Swan Lake on March 4th.  He will be dancing in the special NHS programme on March 19th but I don't think that's for public booking.

 

So sad we won't be seeing him in Month.  😢

 

I am absolutely gutted. 💔  I don’t have tickets for 4th March and was so glad to get tickets for 30th April, which would have been a fitting final performance, especially given the wonderful Morera/Bonelli partnership.  

 

I have to say I’m also cross that this wasn’t announced before general booking and that no email has gone out.  

[alison]

Perhaps an email will go out today?  Judging by how late the original announcement seems to have come out on Friday, I suspect this may have been a pretty last-minute decision/realisation.

[RHowarth]

There are 2 balcony tickets available for his public Swan Lake in case anyone is looking, and 1 in the stalls.

Edited February 28, 2022 by RHowarth

[JNC]

4 hours ago, alison said:

Perhaps an email will go out today?  Judging by how late the original announcement seems to have come out on Friday, I suspect this may have been a pretty last-minute decision/realisation.

I still have no email. I do understand why one wasn’t sent out Friday but not sure what the excuse is today - there is standard wording and a template for cast change emails so it should have been relatively easy to notify those who have booked already? (And even if it’s not easy they have done it before with previous last minute cast changes!) 

 

You shouldn’t have to use twitter or check the forum for these updates. 
 

(although I always find the forum generally is how I find out things, it’s invaluable!)

[ninamargaret]

I booked for the 30 April performance with my Friends booking but have had no notification about the change of cast. Have seen nothing on the website and if it had not been noted on this forum would have known nothing about it. Seems a slightly casual way to treat a retiring Principle - and audiences.

[Fonty]

Has a reason been given for Bonelli not doing that performance?  Very disappointing for his many fans, I must say.

[AnticaFiamma]

49 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Has a reason been given for Bonelli not doing that performance?  Very disappointing for his many fans, I must say.

 

[Jan McNulty]

According to the press release from Northern Ballet, Mr Bonelli's tenure at Northern Ballet starts on 1st May.  While this is a Sunday maybe he needs the weekend to move to Leeds?

[Lizbie1]

Maybe he just needs a break before taking on a demanding new job.

[Mary]

Yes he must have a lot to do. 

 

Farewell to him and thanks for a lot of beautiful performances. 

 

[JNC]

I also still have no email re cast change which I guess presumably means one won’t get sent out now?
 

Seems like a big oversight - do they assume people don’t care about casting? Or they don’t care that far in advance? Or they think it was sufficient to update the website and twitter and assume that those do care would regularly check those sites for casting changes? 
 

Fairly poor on the customer service front particularly given an automated email sent out to the right list of anyone who had booked that performance was all that was required. 
 

I imagine if people had booked specifically for Bonelli they may wish to move their dates (for example the double bill on the preceding Saturday to catch two rather than one performance) so doesn’t seem great. 
 

casting is never guaranteed but providing the up to date information as it currently stands seems like not too much to ask, and is what RoH does with last minute cast changes as standard so not sure why not here. 

[Dawnstar]

10 minutes ago, JNC said:

I imagine if people had booked specifically for Bonelli they may wish to move their dates (for example the double bill on the preceding Saturday to catch two rather than one performance) so doesn’t seem great.

 

Also if those who had booked specifically because it was supposed to be Bonelli's last performance might want the opportunity to try to get Swan Lake tickets instead then the time to notify people is rapidly running out, given his SL is in only 3 days' time. That to me is a more serious time limitation than for moving around triple bill tickets. I imagine that only discovering after 4th March that it had been his last public performance would be really disappointing for those who wanted to say goodbye to him & weren't there because they still thought he'd be doing Month.

[JNC]

Yes that’s true - to be honest it’s probably too late to get tickets for Friday unless you get really lucky. But at least you can try and you know what you’re getting on 30th April. 
 

If you hadn’t clocked the social media announcement then there may be some people turning up on the 30th thinking it is Bonelli’s last performance…unless they do actually send out a cast change email much closer to the time at which point it’s obviously too late.

[ninamargaret]

The ROH announcement about his new appointment said that details of his last performance would of be made at a later date. To my way of thinking, a comment on Twitter is not the right way to do it. I don't think I'm the only person among the ROH audience not to use Twitter.

[Lynette H]

I did wonder about the possibility that he might return next season for a one-off farewell appearance. Didn't Rojo do that (returning in a performance of Marguerite and Armand) after she took over at ENB, or am I misremembering ? 

[AnticaFiamma]

6 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

I did wonder about the possibility that he might return next season for a one-off farewell appearance. Didn't Rojo do that (returning in a performance of Marguerite and Armand) after she took over at ENB, or am I misremembering ? 

He might, although the tweet seems to suggest Friday is the farewell performance:

 

 

[jmhopton]

5 hours ago, AnticaFiamma said:

He might, although the tweet seems to suggest Friday is the farewell performance:

 

 

I too am very disappointed this announcement wasn't made on the ROH website. Why is their own website often the one place you never see important announcements like this? Surely it isn't so difficult to copy a press release onto their own site, especially having said on their own website that information about Federico's final performance would be announced. But for the Forum I would miss a lot of information as their marketing/customer services seem to assume everyone is on social media.  Perhaps someone should tell them we're not. It's not that long ago I had the ROH News page saved as a favourite as there was often interesting information/articles that I enjoyed but not any more, alas.

[Fonty]

I am still upset by the bad planning.  Surely when he applied for the post he must have known when he would be expected to take over if he succeeded?  Was it really feasible that he could perform at all in the Ashton Bill if the timing was so tight?  At the very least, maybe they should have pencilled him in for an earlier performance, not one on potentially his last weekend in London.    

 

Unless, of course, he didn't tell anyone he had applied.  I find it difficult to believe in the small world of ballet that it could have been such a closely kept secret, but you never know.  Even so, I still feel cross that I won't be able to see him for the last time on the ROH stage.  

 

 

[bridiem]

It's a pity that when he was appointed it wasn't on the basis that he would still be able to fulfil his already announced performances at the RB. But maybe that wasn't considered possible.

[Dawnstar]

22 hours ago, JNC said:

Yes that’s true - to be honest it’s probably too late to get tickets for Friday unless you get really lucky. But at least you can try and you know what you’re getting on 30th April.

 

There's a handful of returns for 4th on the website at the moment (I'm checking the SL tickets page every so often because I'm after a ticket for another date) so it is still possible to get tickets if anyone's desparate to go. That is, of course, assuming those who may be desparate to see his last have found out about it, as there's still no sign of an email from the ROH about Month.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Dawnstar

[Jan McNulty]

4 hours ago, bridiem said:

It's a pity that when he was appointed it wasn't on the basis that he would still be able to fulfil his already announced performances at the RB. But maybe that wasn't considered possible.

 

David Nixon was due to leave in December and is still there holding the fort.  Perhaps he wasn't given a choice (or maybe "here's the job and you must commit completely").

 

I have no inside knowledge.

[Anna C]

39 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

There's a handful of returns for 4th on the website at the moment (I'm checking the SL tickets page every so often because I'm after a ticket for another date) so it is still possible to get tickets if anyone's desparate to go. That is, of course, assuming those who may be desparate to see his last have found out about it, as there's still no sign of an email from the ROH about Month.

 

I certainly am desperate but can’t afford an extra Swan Lake - and can’t now go on Friday. 😔

[maryrosesatonapin]

On 21/02/2022 at 21:45, Emeralds said:

Also he’s never been an attention grabbing personality (in this celeb and social media influenced age) who is in the headlines for non-dance reasons, but if you look at the premieres and classics every season, he is always there, and Fede always delivers-never seen him give a bad performance regardless of the ballet he is in. 

I agree 100%!  Also, as Romeo, doesn't his Italian appearance just suit the role so well.

[capybara]

Just think of all the things which need to be done when changing jobs, including all the 'domestic' arrangements. 

Committing to the rehearsals for Month as well as the actual performance was probably a bridge too far.

[ninamargaret]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

Just think of all the things which need to be done when changing jobs, including all the 'domestic' arrangements. 

Committing to the rehearsals for Month as well as the actual performance was probably a bridge too far.

Fully understand the reasons, just wish the ROH had handled it properly instead of appearing to ignore the fact that he wouldn't appear on 30 April.

[ninamargaret]

Have just received the email advising the change of cast for 30 April. 

[Dawnstar]

I hope 25 hours' notice is enough for those who want to to be able to arrange to go to SL tomorrow evening instead...

[MJW]

26 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

Have just received the email advising the change of cast for 30 April. 

 

Just had mine - I have to confess I couldn't remember booking for that date !

[Marie]

Would anyone have a rough idea as to when tomorrow's performance may actually end? Although I'm very grateful to be attending Federico's last performance, I have never been to a principal's 'official last performance' before, and have no idea what to expect (i.e. how many curtain calls? would there be speeches?) ... Just thinking in terms of logistics and train times, as I still have to travel over an hour to get back, and I hope I'm not the only one! 

 

Also, can we expect him to exit via stage door, and if so, would this take longer than usual?? I do have experience waiting after performances to meet dancers at stage door, usually they take max 30 minutes to show up, however considering this is his last official performance, would we possibly have to wait longer, say an hour? 

[capybara]

2 minutes ago, Marie said:

Would anyone have a rough idea as to when tomorrow's performance may actually end? Although I'm very grateful to be attending Federico's last performance, I have never been to a principal's 'official last performance' before, and have no idea what to expect (i.e. how many curtain calls? would there be speeches?) ... Just thinking in terms of logistics and train times, as I still have to travel over an hour to get back, and I hope I'm not the only one! 

 

Also, can we expect him to exit via stage door, and if so, would this take longer than usual?? I do have experience waiting after performances to meet dancers at stage door, usually they take max 30 minutes to show up, however considering this is his last official performance, would we possibly have to wait longer, say an hour? 

The recent pattern for farewell performances by Principals has been for the whole company to come on stage after the normal curtain calls, for Kevin O’Hare to make a short speech, for ‘presents’ to be handed over and for there to be a flower shower. And, of course, a standing ovation.

 

So, yes, it does add 5 to 10 min to the proceedings.

 

But your Stage Door question is difficult to answer. No doubt Federico will be held back a bit but other dancers could still come out relatively quickly, including other Principals who have been there to honour him - and, of course, Fumi Kaneko.

 

 

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, Marie said:

Would anyone have a rough idea as to when tomorrow's performance may actually end? Although I'm very grateful to be attending Federico's last performance, I have never been to a principal's 'official last performance' before, and have no idea what to expect (i.e. how many curtain calls? would there be speeches?) ... Just thinking in terms of logistics and train times, as I still have to travel over an hour to get back, and I hope I'm not the only one! 

 

Also, can we expect him to exit via stage door, and if so, would this take longer than usual?? I do have experience waiting after performances to meet dancers at stage door, usually they take max 30 minutes to show up, however considering this is his last official performance, would we possibly have to wait longer, say an hour? 

 

You're not the only one. I have little hope of getting my usual post-theatre train & the next one doesn't get me into Cambridge until quarter to one.

 

I waited at the stage door after I saw Bonelli & Morera in Giselle last November, because it was a matinee. It took nearly an hour for Bonelli to appear then - everyone other than me who were waiting had given up & left - & that was only a standard performance.

[Marie]

@capybara Thanks so much for your insights these are really helpful! Glad to see that hopefully the performance itself probably won't go into too much overtime. Although it must be bittersweet for the fans. 

 

@Dawnstar Glad to see I'm not the only one! Thanks for sharing your experiences, that's really interesting. Does that mean you had the attention of Mr Bonelli all to yourself?😲 that must have been something to remember!