Joburg Ballet's Maria Callas – Prima Donna Heads To Durban

Maria Callas – Prima Donna -A Ballet by Mario Gaglione – heading to Durban!

Mario Gaglione says:

“Maria Callas has long been a source of fascination and inspiration for me. Her unwavering commitment to music and theatre through a turbulent life, speaks of a resilience I deeply admire.”

A senior soloist and Associate choreographer with Joburg Ballet, Gaglione, over the last few years, has emerged as a significant choreographic voice in the South African dance landscape.

His ballet Maria Callas – Prima Donna, a self-funded ‘passion project’ independent from Joburg Ballet, which premiered last year at the Lesedi, Joburg Theatre and was performed again in January in Cape Town by invitation of the UCT Summer School as their closing show, was warmly received by audiences in both cities.

Divine, enchanting and tragically human, Maria Callas remains one of the most captivating figures in opera history. This ballet brings her extraordinary life to the stage, it weaves together the passion of her artistry, the turbulence of her personal journey and the relentless pursuit of perfection that defined her.

The role of Maria Callas is performed by Joburg Ballet’s principal dancer, Monike Cristina who won the 2026 Naledi Award for ‘Best Performance in a Dance, Physical Theatre or Ballet Production’ for her portrayal of Maria Callas in this work. Cristina, together with four other Joburg Ballet dancers – principal dancers Revil Yon and Ivan Domiciano and soloists Chloé Blair and Gabriella Ghiaroni, brings Gaglione’s intimate ballet on the life of Maria Callas to life.

The ballet invites audiences to step closer to the mystery of Maria Callas, from soaring triumphs to devastating heartbreaks to meet the legend, the woman behind the voice. It blends the physical poetry of dance with rare video interviews with Callas herself, it highlights arias such as Casta Diva and Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix and also uses operatic excerpts from La Traviata and Carmen and, while the costumes have been sourced from rare vintage collections.