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“Discussing about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a royal figure,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Known as the Empress of African Song, the iconic artist also spent time in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a teenager dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she later served as an envoy for the nation, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was married to a Black Panther. Her rich story and impact inspire Seutin’s new production, the performance, set for its UK premiere.

A Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen combines movement, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that is not a simple biography but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after relocating to the city in the year, she was barred from her homeland for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the United States after marrying Black Panther activist her spouse. The performance is like a ritual of remembrance, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, part celebration, part provocation – with the exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane leading reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … the production.

In South Africa, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial venue for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, usually managed by a host. Makeba’s mother Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for producing drinks without permission when Miriam was 18 days old. Incapable of covering the penalty, she went to prison for six months, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life began – just one of the details Seutin learned when researching Makeba’s life. “So many stories!” exclaims she, when we meet in the city after a show. Seutin’s parent is from Belgium and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she founded her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would perform Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and move along in the home.

Songs of freedom … the artist sings at the venue in the year.

A ten years back, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I stopped working for a quarter to look after her and she was constantly asking for Miriam Makeba. She was so happy when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “I had so much time to kill at the facility so I started researching.” As well as reading about her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a legal professional in the 1950s), Seutin found that Makeba 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 parent’s funeral. “You see people and you focus on their success and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Creation and Themes

All these thoughts contributed to the creation of the show (premiered in Brussels in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the piece was to honor “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights threads of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more generally to the idea of displacement and dispossession nowadays. Although it’s not overt in the show, she had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of personas linked with the icon to welcome this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the shebeen’s local drink, the skilled dancers appear taken over by beat, in harmony with the musicians on the platform. Seutin’s choreography incorporates multiple styles of movement she has learned over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including urban dances like the form.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

She was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the singer. (She passed away in 2008 after having a cardiac event on the platform in Italy.) Why should new audiences discover Mama Africa? “I think she would motivate young people to advocate what they believe in, expressing honesty,” remarks Seutin. “But she accomplished this very gracefully. She’d say something poignant and then perform a lovely melody.” She aimed to adopt the same approach in this production. “Audiences observe movement and listen to melodies, an element of enjoyment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that resonate. That’s what I respect about her. Since if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They back away. But she did it in a manner that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be graced by her ability.”

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