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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a sovereign,” explains the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, Makeba also associated in New York with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Starting as a young person sent to work to support her family in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was married to a Black Panther. This rich story and impact inspire Seutin’s latest work, the performance, set for its British debut.

A Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen merges movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a stage work that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but draws on her past, especially her experience of banishment: after relocating to New York in 1959, Makeba was barred from her homeland for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was excluded from the United States after marrying activist her spouse. The performance is like a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with the fabulous vocalist the performer leading bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar venue for locally made drinks and animated discussions, often presided over by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a proprietress who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the fine, Christina was incarcerated for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life started – just one of the things Seutin learned when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” says Seutin, when they met in Brussels after a performance. Seutin’s parent is from Belgium and she mainly grew up there before moving to learn and labor in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her South African mother would perform her music, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when Seutin was a child, and dance to them in the home.

Songs of freedom … the artist sings at the venue in the year.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had cancer and was in medical care in the city. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was always requesting the singer. She was so happy when we were performing as one,” Seutin remembers. “There was ample time to pass at the facility so I started researching.” As well as reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the freedom of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the era), Seutin found that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in the year, and that because of her banishment she could not attend her parent’s memorial. “You see people and you look at their success and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” says the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

These reflections contributed to the making of the show (premiered in Brussels in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. In this context, Seutin pulls out threads of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession nowadays. Although it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a contemporary version who is a traveler. “And we gather as these other selves of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the performance, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by rhythm, in harmony with the musicians on stage. Her choreography incorporates various forms of dance she has absorbed over the years, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like krump.

Honoring strength … the creator.

She was taken aback to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (She passed away in 2008 after having a cardiac event on the platform in Italy.) Why should new audiences learn about the legend? “In my view she would inspire young people to advocate what they believe in, speaking the truth,” remarks the choreographer. “However she did it very gracefully. She’d say something poignant and then sing a beautiful song.” Seutin aimed to adopt the similar method in this work. “We see dancing and hear melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I respect about her. Since if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They retreat. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is at London, the dates