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“When you speak about the legendary singer in South Africa, it’s akin to referring about a queen,” remarks the choreographer. Called the Empress of African Song, Makeba additionally associated in New York with jazz greats like prominent artists. Beginning as a teenager sent to work to support her family in the city, she eventually served as an envoy for Ghana, then Guinea’s representative to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a activist. Her rich life and legacy motivate Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its UK premiere.

A Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines movement, instrumental performances, and oral storytelling in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, especially her experience of banishment: after relocating to New York in the year, she was barred from South Africa for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after wedding Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The show resembles a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with a exceptional vocalist the performer 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 presided over by a shebeen queen. Makeba’s mother Christina was a shebeen queen who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was a newborn. Incapable of covering the penalty, she went to prison for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey started – just one of the details the choreographer discovered when studying Makeba’s life. “So many stories!” says she, when we meet in the city after a show. Her father is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would sing Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a child, and dance to them in the home.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at Wembley Stadium in the year.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in medical care in London. “I paused my career for a quarter to take care of her and she was constantly requesting the singer. She was so happy when we were performing as one,” Seutin remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the hospital so I started researching.” As well as learning of her victorious homecoming to South Africa in 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the era), Seutin found that Makeba had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that her child the girl passed away in labor in the year, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to attend her own mother’s memorial. “You see people and you focus on their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Development and Concepts

These reflections went into the making of the production (premiered in Brussels in the year). Thankfully, Seutin’s mother’s therapy was successful, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, she pulls out elements of her life story like memories, and references more generally to the theme of displacement and dispossession today. Although it’s not explicit in the show, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “And we gather as these other selves of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in the show.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by rhythm, in harmony with the players on the platform. Seutin’s choreography includes multiple styles of dance she has learned over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like the form.

Honoring strength … the creator.

She was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in the year after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should new audiences discover Mama Africa? “I think she would inspire young people to advocate what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “But she did it very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then sing a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to take the similar method in this production. “We see dancing and listen to beautiful songs, an element of entertainment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that resonate. This is what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people won’t listen. They retreat. But she achieved it in a manner that you would accept it, and understand it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October