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“Discussing about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s like speaking about a sovereign,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Called Mama Africa, Makeba also associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a teenager dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for the nation, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. This remarkable life and legacy motivate the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its British debut.

A Blend of Movement, Sound, and Narration

The show merges movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a stage work that isn’t a simple biography but utilizes Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after moving to New York in the year, Makeba was prohibited from South Africa for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after wedding activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with the fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane leading reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial gathering place for locally made drinks and lively conversation, often presided over by a shebeen queen. Her parent Christina was a proprietress who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the fine, she was incarcerated for six months, bringing her infant with her, which is how her remarkable journey started – just one of the details the choreographer discovered when researching her story. “So many stories!” says Seutin, when they met in Brussels after a show. Her father is from Belgium and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would sing Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a youngster, and dance to them in the home.

Melodies of liberation … the artist sings at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A decade ago, her parent had the illness and was in hospital in London. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was constantly requesting Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the hospital so I started researching.” In addition to learning of her victorious homecoming to South Africa in 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had encountered when he was a legal professional in the era), Seutin discovered that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter Bongi died in labor in the year, and that because of her exile she could not be present at her parent’s funeral. “You see people and you look at their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” says the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the creation of the production (premiered in Brussels in 2023). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, she highlights elements of her life story like memories, and references more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss nowadays. While it’s not overt in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of personas linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the performance, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by rhythm, in synthesis with the players on stage. Seutin’s choreography incorporates various forms of movement she has absorbed over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ personal styles, including street styles like krump.

A celebration of resilience … Alesandra Seutin.

She was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the group were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in the year after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire young people to advocate what they are, expressing honesty,” says the choreographer. “But she did it very elegantly. She expressed something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” She wanted to adopt the same approach in this work. “Audiences observe movement and listen to melodies, an element of enjoyment, but mixed with strong messages and instances that hit. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They retreat. Yet she did it in a way that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be graced by her ability.”

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