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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s similar to talking about a royal figure,” states Alesandra Seutin. Referred to as Mama Africa, the iconic artist also associated in New York with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Starting as a young person sent to work to provide for her relatives in the city, she eventually served as an envoy for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was the wife to a activist. Her remarkable story and impact inspire Seutin’s latest work, the performance, scheduled for its UK premiere.

The Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

The show combines dance, live music, and oral storytelling in a theatrical piece that isn’t a simple biography but draws on her past, especially her experience of banishment: after moving to the city in 1959, she was barred from her homeland for three decades due to her anti-apartheid stance. Subsequently, she was banned from the United States after marrying activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ritual of remembrance, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, part celebration, some challenge – with a exceptional vocalist the performer at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In South Africa, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar venue for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, usually presided over by a host. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the fine, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how her remarkable journey started – just one of the details Seutin learned when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims Seutin, when they met in Brussels after a performance. Her father is from Belgium and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would sing her music, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the home.

Songs of freedom … the artist sings at Wembley Stadium in the year.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in medical care in the city. “I stopped working for a quarter to take care of her and she was constantly requesting the singer. It delighted her when we were singing together,” Seutin remembers. “I had so much time to kill at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the freedom of the leader (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the era), she discovered that she had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that Makeba’s daughter Bongi passed away in labor in the year, and that due to her exile she could not be present at her own mother’s memorial. “You see people and you look at their achievements and you forget that they are facing challenges like everyone,” says Seutin.

Development and Themes

These reflections went into the making of the production (first staged in the city in 2023). Thankfully, her parent’s therapy was successful, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. In this context, she pulls out elements of Makeba’s biography like memories, and references more broadly to the theme of uprooting and loss nowadays. While it’s not explicit in the show, she had in mind a additional character, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of personas linked with Miriam Makeba to greet this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear possessed by beat, in synthesis with the players on the platform. Seutin’s dance composition includes multiple styles of dance she has learned over the time, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like the form.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

Seutin was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (Makeba passed away in the year after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should new audiences discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would motivate young people to stand for what they believe in, speaking the truth,” remarks the choreographer. “But she did it very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” Seutin aimed to take the similar method in this work. “Audiences observe dancing and listen to beautiful songs, an element of enjoyment, but intertwined with strong messages and moments that hit. This is what I admire about her. Because if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They retreat. But she did it in a way that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

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