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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in South Africa, it’s similar to talking about a sovereign,” remarks the choreographer. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist also associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Beginning as a young person dispatched to labor to support her family in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for the nation, then Guinea’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was married to a activist. Her remarkable story and impact inspire Seutin’s new production, the performance, set for its UK premiere.

The Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, live music, and spoken word in a stage work that is not a straightforward biodrama but draws on her past, particularly her experience of banishment: after moving to New York in 1959, she was barred from South Africa for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Later, she was banned from the US after marrying activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with the exceptional vocalist the performer 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 managed by a host. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for producing drinks without permission when Miriam was a newborn. Incapable of covering the fine, Christina went to prison for half a year, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey began – just one of the details the choreographer discovered when studying Makeba’s life. “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 South African mother would perform her music, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the living room.

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

A decade ago, her parent had the illness and was in medical care in the city. “I stopped working for a quarter to take care of her and she was always asking for Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were singing together,” she remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the facility so I started researching.” In addition to learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had encountered when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), she found that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl died in labor in the year, and that because of her exile she could not be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” says Seutin.

Development and Concepts

These reflections contributed to the creation of the production (premiered in the city in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s therapy was successful, but the concept for the piece was to honor “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin pulls out elements of Makeba’s biography like memories, and references more generally to the theme of displacement and dispossession nowadays. While it’s not overt in the show, she had in mind a additional character, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “And we gather as these alter egos of personas linked with the icon to welcome this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in the show.

In the performance, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled performers appear taken over by beat, in harmony with the players on stage. Her dance composition incorporates multiple styles of dance she has absorbed over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like the form.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the group didn’t already know about the artist. (She died in the year after having a heart attack on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations discover the legend? “In my view she would inspire young people to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “However she did it very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” She wanted to take the same approach in this production. “Audiences observe movement and hear melodies, an element of enjoyment, but intertwined with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I respect about Miriam. Since if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They back away. Yet she did it in a manner that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is at London, the dates