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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a sovereign,” states the choreographer. Called the Empress of African Song, Makeba additionally associated in New York with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Beginning as a teenager dispatched to labor to support her family in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for the nation, then Guinea’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was the wife to a activist. Her rich story and impact inspire the choreographer’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 spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, particularly her experience of banishment: after moving to New York in the year, Makeba was barred from South Africa for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was excluded from the United States after marrying Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The show is like a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with a fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar venue for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, usually managed by a host. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the penalty, she went to prison for six months, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life started – just one of the things Seutin discovered when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims she, when we meet in the city after a show. Her parent is Belgian and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would perform Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and move along in the living room.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at the venue in 1988.

A decade ago, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I paused my career for a quarter to look after her and she was always asking for Miriam Makeba. She was so happy when we were performing as one,” Seutin remembers. “I had so much time to kill at the hospital so I began investigating.” As well as reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the release of the leader (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), she discovered that she had been a someone who overcame illness in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl died in labor in the year, and that due to her exile she hadn’t been able to be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you look at their achievements and you forget that they are facing challenges like everyone,” states the choreographer.

Development and Themes

All these thoughts went into the making of the production (first staged in the city in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. In this context, Seutin highlights threads of her life story like memories, and references more generally to the idea of displacement and dispossession today. Although it’s not overt in the performance, she had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of personas linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the shebeen’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear possessed by rhythm, in harmony with the musicians on stage. Seutin’s choreography includes multiple styles of movement she has absorbed over the time, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including urban dances like the form.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a heart attack on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about Mama Africa? “I think she would inspire the youth to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “However she accomplished this very elegantly. She expressed something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” Seutin wanted to take the same approach in this production. “We see movement and hear melodies, an element of enjoyment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and instances that resonate. That’s what I admire about her. Because if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They back away. Yet she did it in a manner that you would accept it, and understand it, but still be graced by her talent.”

• The performance is showing in London, the dates