Mario Gaglione’s Omaggio a Puccini is a dance of love and legacy

Giacomo Puccini’s music is a masterclass in emotional clarity where lush orchestrations and soaring melodies evoke the rawest human experiences. Joburg Ballet soloist and choreographer Mario Gaglione transforms the famed composer’s operas into movement with Omaggio a Puccini, a one-night-only performance at Joburg Theatre’s Lesedi Theatre on December 8.

“The main purpose of dance is always to communicate the story that’s happening, even without words,” Gaglione said. Commissioned by the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in SA, the ballet marks the centenary of Puccini’s death. It has so far been performed in Pretoria, Sasolburg and Windhoek, Namibia. Focusing on Tosca, La Bohème, and Madame Butterfly, Gaglione distills the operas’ love duets into intimate, 10-to-15-minute balletic vignettes.

“I didn’t want to create work that was too much like a biography of Puccini but a celebration of his career,” Gaglione explained. “It’s one of those productions where you can really just enjoy dance for the pleasure of it.” His aim is not to replicate the operas but to reinterpret their emotional depth, highlighting moments when love, in its beauty, triumph and tragedy, takes centre stage. “I focus more on what the characters express through their body language rather than the words they speak,” he said. 

Each duet amplifies the presence of both tenor and soprano, with choreography crafted to communicate what it means to love deeply and lose drastically. “I want the audience to feel the emotions and enjoy the simplicity of watching something so beautifully entangled before them,” Gaglione said. Omaggio a Puccini promises to translate the composer’s narratives into poignant and profound movement. 

For Gaglione, collaboration is essential, crediting his dancers not only as performers but as co-creators. “The dancers are the ones that eventually go on stage. They need to feel comfortable and confident in what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” he said.

The performance begins with Tosca, where painter Cavaradossi (Miguel Franco-Green) and the titular diva (Cristina Nakos) convey their tempestuous love. It transitions into the bittersweet world of La Bohème, capturing the youthful exuberance and eventual heartbreak of Mimi (Alice Le Roux) and Rodolfo (Bruno Miranda). Finally, in Madama Butterfly, Gaglione embraces a contemporary lens, reimagining Cho-Cho-San (Savannah Jacobson) and Lieutenant Pinkerton’s (Rhulani Moloi) postnuptial duet.

Gaglione's creative process is as collaborative as it is instinctive. “I rarely enter the studio with fixed choreography,” he stated. While firmly rooted in Puccini’s operatic legacy, Gaglione infuses fresh energy, presenting ballet as a marriage of tradition and innovation. “When I create something, I also like to give different versions of what can be done with an opera,” he said. This vision manifests within the production, where the early sections lean into the precision of classical ballet, while Madame Butterfly transitions into a more contemporary movement language.

Though opera is often seen through a classical lens, he notes that by integrating modern elements, like reinterpreting exquisite arias and love duets, thrilling surprises for the audience can be created. “It shows that contemporary audiences are not only willing to embrace tradition but are also open to seeing how something completely different can still enchant them.”

Gaglione is no stranger to this type of work, having choreographed Inferno (2021) and Pasolini100 (2023) to celebrate the life of Italian poet Dante Alighieri and film director Pier Paolo Pasolini. With Omaggio a Puccini, he continues a lineage of honouring iconic Italian creators. “The thing with these specific people was that they had very strong messages that they delivered during their life in their own fields,” he said. His attraction to such figures stems from their undeniable passion and commitment.

Reflecting on how growing up surrounded by their legacies instilled in him a profound respect, he recognises that not everyone in SA may be familiar with these names. “Especially probably here because it’s a very different history and culture,” he noted, pondering how best to bridge that gap. He hopes audiences will approach these stories with curiosity. Through his interpretations, he aims to spark interest in the broader cultural context of these icons.

Omaggio a Puccini exemplifies Gaglione’s broader choreographic journey, marked by contrast and eclecticism. His oeuvre spans darker contemporary pieces, whimsical adaptations such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and blends contemporary and neoclassical styles as seen in Cinderella. “If you actually go and look into my other works, I would be very confused as an outsider looking into it,” he quipped.

At its core, it’s a meditation on connection and emotional resonance. “I want people to feel something,” he said. This sensitivity shines particularly in the piece's interpretation of La Bohème, where Mimi and Rodolfo interaction unfolds with quiet intimacy. “There’s nothing to it. They’re not doing difficult steps or major lifts. It’s a quiet and beautiful, simple moment that evokes the stillness of time itself, reminiscent of the first time you fell in love.”

As the production nears its debut, one can sense Gaglione’s eagerness to create not just a performance, but a shared experience. This production is a celebration of love, aiming for the kind of engagement that will linger long after the final applause.