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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in South Africa, it’s akin to referring about a queen,” explains the choreographer. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Starting as a young person dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she later served as an envoy for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the United Nations. An vocal anti-apartheid activist, she was married to a Black Panther. This rich life and legacy motivate Seutin’s new production, the performance, set for its British debut.

The Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, instrumental performances, and oral storytelling in a theatrical piece that is not a straightforward biodrama but utilizes her past, especially her experience of banishment: after moving to the city in 1959, she was barred from her homeland for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the United States after marrying Black Panther activist her spouse. The performance resembles a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, part provocation – with a fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane leading bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In South Africa, a shebeen is an unofficial venue for locally made drinks and animated discussions, often managed by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a proprietress who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Incapable of covering the fine, she was incarcerated for half a year, bringing her baby with her, which is how her remarkable journey began – just one of the things Seutin discovered when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” exclaims she, when we meet in the city after a performance. Her parent is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before relocating to learn and labor in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would perform Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a youngster, and move along in the home.

Melodies of liberation … Miriam Makeba performs at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A decade ago, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in the city. “I paused my career for a quarter to look after her and she was constantly requesting Miriam Makeba. She was so happy when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “I had so much time to kill at the hospital so I started researching.” In addition to learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in the year, after the release of the leader (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the era), Seutin discovered that Makeba had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in the year, and that because of her banishment she could not be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you look at their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” states Seutin.

Creation and Themes

These reflections contributed to the making of the show (first staged in the city in the year). Fortunately, Seutin’s mother’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession today. Although it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of characters connected to the icon to greet this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in the show.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled dancers appear possessed by rhythm, in harmony with the musicians on the platform. Her choreography incorporates multiple styles 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 … the creator.

She 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 cardiac event on stage in Italy.) Why should new audiences discover the legend? “I think she would motivate young people to stand for what they are, speaking the truth,” says Seutin. “But she did it very gracefully. She’d say something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to take the similar method in this work. “We see dancing and hear melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with powerful ideas and moments that resonate. That’s what I respect about her. 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 blessed by her talent.”

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