Maria Callas Prima Donna: Mario Gaglione’s Ballet Tribute to the Opera Icon

Maria Callas: Prima Donna is a new ballet by Mario Gaglione, running for a limited season on 16 and 17 August at Joburg Theatre. This powerful one-act ballet captures personal and professional moments of opera’s most iconic star. “I originally wanted to create a ballet in Maria’s honour in 2023, to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth,” says Gaglione. “This year, I finally decided to move forward and develop the work with the dancers, creating sporadically but steadily. Here’s what you need to know.

The life and times of opera’s greatest icon, in ballet format

Choreographed by Mario Gaglione, this intimate piece traverses the many phases of Callas’ life—not through chronology, but through emotion, memory, and movement. Here, Maria Callas is not merely portrayed; she is unveiled.

Gagloine employed a seamless blend of video interviews, symbolic motifs, and expressive dance to craft his story. Audiences can witness her transformation from an ambitious young artist to a vulnerable legend, grappling with fame, love, and inevitable solitude.

Joburg Ballet's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Maria Callas Prima Donna ballet by Mario Gaglione | What's on in Cape Town — Choreographer, Mario Gaglione

Behind the making of Maria Callas Prima Donna

Mario Gaglione’s choreography is meant to be interpretive yet precise, tracing the emotional nuances of a woman forever balancing divinity with doubt. Monike Cristina stars as Maria Callas, dancing with haunted poise and carrying the prima donna’s voice in silence. The featured dancers for this production include Revil Yon, Gabriella Ghiaroni, Ivan Domiciano, and Chloé Blair, all seasoned talent in Joburg’s ballet scene. Together, they fluidly transition between characters, becoming colleagues, critics, lovers, and even Jackie Kennedy.

For the soundscape, Gaglione weaves arias such as Casta Diva and Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix with operatic gems from La Traviata and Carmen to evoke both Callas’s legacy and the women she embodied. Costumes are sourced from rare vintage collections with elements of silk, velvet, and heartbreak to make a strong theatrical statement.