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“Discussing about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s similar to talking about a queen,” states Alesandra Seutin. Called Mama Africa, Makeba additionally spent time in New York with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a young person dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she eventually became a diplomat for the nation, then Guinea’s representative to the UN. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. This rich life and legacy motivate Seutin’s new production, the performance, scheduled for its British debut.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen merges dance, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that is not a straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after relocating to the city in the year, she was prohibited from South Africa for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Subsequently, she was excluded from the United States after marrying Black Panther activist her spouse. The performance resembles a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with a exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar gathering place for locally made drinks and lively conversation, often presided over by a host. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a proprietress who was detained for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the penalty, she went to prison for half a year, taking her baby with her, which is how her eventful life began – just one of the things Seutin learned when researching her story. “So many stories!” says Seutin, when we meet in Brussels after a show. Her parent is from Belgium and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would sing her music, such as the tunes, when she was a child, and move along in the home.

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

A ten years back, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I paused my career for three months to look after her and she was constantly asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to kill at the facility 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 discovered that she had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that her child Bongi passed away in childbirth in the year, and that because of her banishment she could not attend her parent’s funeral. “You see people and you focus on their success and you forget that they are facing challenges like anyone else,” says the choreographer.

Development and Concepts

All these thoughts contributed to the creation of the production (premiered in Brussels in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s therapy was effective, but the idea for the piece was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights threads of her life story like memories, and nods more broadly to the theme of uprooting and loss nowadays. While it’s not explicit in the show, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of characters connected to the icon to welcome this newcomer.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the shebeen’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by beat, in synthesis with the players on stage. Seutin’s dance composition incorporates multiple styles of movement she has learned over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ own vocabularies, including urban dances like krump.

Honoring strength … the creator.

She was taken aback to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the cast were unaware about the artist. (She passed away in the year after having a cardiac event on the platform in the country.) Why should younger generations discover the legend? “I think she would motivate the youth to stand for what they believe in, speaking the truth,” remarks the choreographer. “But she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” She aimed to take the similar method in this production. “We see movement and hear beautiful songs, an element of enjoyment, but mixed with powerful ideas and instances that hit. That’s what I respect about her. Because if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They retreat. Yet she achieved it in a manner that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October