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“If you talk about the legendary singer in South Africa, it’s akin to referring about a sovereign,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Called the Empress of African Song, Makeba additionally spent time in New York with jazz greats like prominent artists. Beginning as a teenager sent to work to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the United Nations. An vocal anti-apartheid activist, she was married to a activist. This rich story and impact motivate Seutin’s new production, the performance, scheduled for its British debut.

The Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that is not a simple biography but draws on her past, particularly her experience of banishment: after moving to the city in 1959, she was prohibited from her homeland for three decades due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was excluded from the United States after marrying activist Stokely Carmichael. The show resembles a ritual of remembrance, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with the fabulous vocalist Tutu Puoane leading 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 presided over by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a proprietress who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Miriam was a newborn. Incapable of covering the fine, Christina was incarcerated for six months, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life started – just one of the details Seutin learned when studying Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says Seutin, when we meet in the city after a performance. Seutin’s father is from Belgium and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her company the ensemble. Her South African mother would sing Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when Seutin was a child, and move along in the home.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had the illness and was in hospital in London. “I paused my career for three months to take care of her and she was constantly asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she remembers. “I had so much time to kill at the hospital so I started researching.” As well as reading about her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the era), she found that Makeba had been a someone who overcame illness in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl died in labor in 1985, and that because of her exile she could not attend her parent’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you look at their achievements and you overlook that they are facing challenges like everyone,” states Seutin.

Development and Concepts

These reflections contributed to the creation of the production (first staged in the city in the year). Thankfully, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of her life story like memories, and references more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “And we gather as these alter egos of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to greet this newcomer.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear taken over by beat, in harmony with the musicians on stage. Her dance composition includes multiple styles of movement she has absorbed over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like the form.

Honoring strength … the creator.

She was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group were unaware about the singer. (Makeba died in the year after having a heart attack on the platform in Italy.) Why should younger generations discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire the youth to advocate what they believe in, speaking the truth,” remarks Seutin. “But she did it very elegantly. She’d say something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” Seutin wanted to adopt the same approach in this work. “We see dancing and hear melodies, an aspect of enjoyment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and moments that resonate. This is what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They retreat. But she did it in a manner that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is showing in London, the dates