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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s similar to talking about a royal figure,” remarks the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, the iconic artist also spent time in New York with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a teenager sent to work to support her family in the city, she later served as an envoy for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the UN. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. Her rich story and impact motivate the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its UK premiere.

A Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

The show merges movement, instrumental performances, and oral storytelling in a stage work that is not a simple biography but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after relocating to the city in 1959, Makeba was prohibited from her homeland for three decades due to her anti-apartheid stance. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after marrying activist her spouse. The performance resembles a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with a fabulous vocalist Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving her music to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a shebeen is an under-the-radar gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often managed by a shebeen queen. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a proprietress who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was 18 days old. Incapable of covering the penalty, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey started – just one of the things the choreographer discovered when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims she, when they met in the city after a show. Her parent is from Belgium and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her company the ensemble. Her South African mother would perform Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and move along in the living room.

Melodies of liberation … the artist sings at the venue in the year.

A decade ago, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in medical care in the city. “I paused my career for a quarter to look after her and she was always asking for Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the hospital so I started researching.” As well as reading about her victorious homecoming to the nation in the year, after the freedom of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), Seutin found that she had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that Makeba’s daughter the girl passed away in labor in the year, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you look at their success and you overlook that they are struggling like everyone,” states the choreographer.

Development and Concepts

All these thoughts contributed to the creation of the show (premiered in the city in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s therapy was effective, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. In this context, Seutin highlights threads of Makeba’s biography like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the theme of uprooting and loss nowadays. Although it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of characters connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled performers appear possessed by rhythm, in harmony with the musicians on stage. Seutin’s dance composition incorporates multiple styles of dance she has learned over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including urban dances like krump.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

She was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a heart attack on the platform in the country.) Why should new audiences discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire young people to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” says Seutin. “However she accomplished this very elegantly. She’d say something meaningful and then sing a lovely melody.” Seutin wanted to take the same approach in this production. “Audiences observe movement and listen to melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with powerful ideas and instances that resonate. That’s what I admire about her. Because if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They back away. But she did it in a manner that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is showing in the city, 22-24 October