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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in South Africa, it’s similar to talking about a royal figure,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Called Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally spent time in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like prominent artists. Starting as a young person dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she eventually served as an envoy for Ghana, then the country’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was married to a Black Panther. This rich story and impact inspire the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its UK premiere.

The Blend of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen merges dance, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, especially her experience of banishment: after moving to New York in 1959, she was barred from her homeland for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the US after wedding activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance resembles a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with the exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Strength and elegance … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial gathering place for home-brewed liquor and lively conversation, often managed by a shebeen queen. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was a newborn. Incapable of covering the penalty, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her baby with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey began – just one of the things Seutin learned when researching her story. “Numerous tales!” says she, when we meet in the city after a show. Her parent is Belgian and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her dance group Vocab Dance. Her parent would sing her music, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when Seutin was a child, and move along in the home.

Melodies of liberation … the artist performs at the venue in 1988.

A ten years back, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I stopped working for three months to take care of her and she was constantly asking for Miriam Makeba. She was so happy when we were singing together,” she recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to learning of her victorious homecoming to the nation in the year, after the freedom of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a young lawyer in the era), she discovered that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her teens, that her child Bongi passed away in labor in 1985, and that due to her exile she hadn’t been able to attend her own mother’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you overlook that they are struggling like anyone else,” states Seutin.

Creation and Themes

All these thoughts went into the creation of the production (first staged in the city in 2023). Fortunately, her parent’s therapy was effective, but the concept for the piece was to honor “death, life and mourning”. Within that, she highlights elements of her life story like memories, and nods more broadly to the theme of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not explicit in the performance, she had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “And we gather as these alter egos of characters linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in the show.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by beat, in harmony with the musicians on stage. Seutin’s choreography incorporates multiple styles of movement she has absorbed over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ own vocabularies, including street styles like krump.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

Seutin was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in the year after having a heart attack on stage in Italy.) Why should new audiences discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire young people to advocate what they are, speaking the truth,” remarks Seutin. “However she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something poignant and then sing a lovely melody.” Seutin wanted to take the similar method in this work. “We see movement and hear beautiful songs, an aspect of entertainment, but intertwined with strong messages and moments that resonate. This is what I admire about her. Because if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They back away. Yet she did it in a manner that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• The performance is showing in London, 22-24 October