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“If you talk about the legendary singer in South Africa, it’s similar to talking about a royal figure,” states the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, Makeba also spent time in New York with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a teenager sent to work to provide for her relatives in the city, she later became a diplomat for the nation, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was married to a Black Panther. Her remarkable story and impact motivate Seutin’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its British debut.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen merges dance, live music, and oral storytelling in a stage work that is not a simple biography but utilizes Makeba’s history, especially her experience of banishment: after relocating to the city in 1959, Makeba was barred from her homeland for three decades due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the United States after wedding Black Panther activist her spouse. The show resembles a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, some festivity, some challenge – with the exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a shebeen is an under-the-radar gathering place for home-brewed liquor and lively conversation, usually 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, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her baby with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey began – just one of the details Seutin discovered when studying Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says she, when they met in Brussels after a show. Seutin’s parent is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she founded her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would sing Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a child, and dance to them in the home.

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

A decade ago, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in hospital in the city. “I paused my career for a quarter to look after her and she was constantly asking for Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she recalls. “There was ample time to kill at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in the year, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the era), she discovered that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in 1985, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to be present at her parent’s memorial. “You see people and you look at their success and you overlook that they are facing challenges like everyone,” states Seutin.

Creation and Concepts

All these thoughts contributed to the making of the production (first staged in the city in the year). Thankfully, Seutin’s mother’s therapy was effective, but the concept for the work was to honor “death, life and mourning”. In this context, she highlights elements of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not overt in the show, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of characters connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the shebeen’s home-brew, the skilled dancers appear possessed by rhythm, in synthesis with the musicians on stage. Seutin’s dance composition includes various forms of movement she has absorbed over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like the form.

A celebration of resilience … 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 artist. (She died in 2008 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 believe in, speaking the truth,” says the choreographer. “But she did it very gracefully. She’d say something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” Seutin wanted to adopt the similar method in this production. “We see dancing and hear beautiful songs, an element of enjoyment, but mixed with strong messages and instances that resonate. This is what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They retreat. Yet she achieved it in a way that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is at the city, the dates