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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s like speaking about a sovereign,” states Alesandra Seutin. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally associated in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a teenager sent to work to support her family in the city, she eventually served as an envoy for Ghana, then Guinea’s representative to the United Nations. An vocal anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. Her rich life and legacy motivate the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its British debut.

A Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

The show combines dance, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, especially her story of exile: after relocating to the city in 1959, she was barred from South Africa for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was excluded from the United States after wedding activist her spouse. The performance resembles a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with the exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In South Africa, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar venue for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often presided over by a host. Makeba’s mother Christina was a proprietress who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was 18 days old. Unable to pay the fine, Christina went to prison for half a year, bringing her infant with her, which is how her eventful life began – just one of the things Seutin discovered when studying her story. “So many stories!” exclaims she, when they met in the city after a show. Seutin’s parent is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before relocating to study and work in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would sing her music, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a youngster, and dance to them in the living room.

Songs of freedom … the artist sings at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in hospital in London. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was constantly requesting the singer. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” Seutin remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the hospital so I started researching.” In addition to reading about her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the era), Seutin found that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in 1985, and that due to her exile she could not attend her parent’s memorial. “You see people and you focus on their achievements and you forget that they are facing challenges like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Development and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the creation of the production (first staged in Brussels in the year). Thankfully, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin pulls out threads of Makeba’s biography like flashbacks, and references more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession today. Although it’s not overt in the show, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these alter egos of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to greet this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled performers appear possessed by beat, in harmony with the players on stage. Her dance composition includes various forms of dance she has learned over the years, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like krump.

A celebration of resilience … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the artist. (She died in 2008 after having a heart attack on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about the legend? “I think she would motivate the youth to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “But she accomplished this very elegantly. She expressed something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” Seutin wanted to take the same approach in this production. “Audiences observe dancing and listen to beautiful songs, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I admire about her. Because if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They back away. Yet she did it in a manner that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is showing in the city, the dates