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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s similar to talking about a sovereign,” remarks Alesandra Seutin. Called the Empress of African Song, Makeba additionally associated 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 Johannesburg, she later served as an envoy for Ghana, then the country’s representative to the UN. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was the wife to a Black Panther. Her remarkable story and impact motivate the choreographer’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its UK premiere.

A Blend of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen combines movement, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a simple biography but draws on her past, especially her experience of banishment: after moving to New York in the year, she was prohibited from South Africa for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after marrying Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with the fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In South Africa, a shebeen is an unofficial gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, usually presided over by a host. Her parent Christina was a proprietress who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was 18 days old. Incapable of covering the fine, she was incarcerated for half a year, bringing her baby with her, which is how her remarkable journey began – just one of the things Seutin discovered when researching Makeba’s life. “So many stories!” says she, when we meet in the city after a show. Seutin’s parent is from Belgium and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would perform her music, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the home.

Melodies of liberation … the artist sings at the venue in 1988.

A ten years back, her parent had the illness and was in hospital in London. “I paused my career for three months to look after her and she was always asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she remembers. “I had so much time to kill at the facility so I began investigating.” As well as learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the freedom of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a legal professional in the 1950s), she discovered that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl passed away in childbirth in 1985, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their achievements and you overlook that they are facing challenges like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the making of the show (first staged in the city in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was successful, but the concept for the piece was to honor “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of Makeba’s biography like memories, and references more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. Although it’s not overt in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these alter egos of personas linked with the icon to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled dancers appear possessed by beat, in harmony with the players on stage. Seutin’s choreography incorporates multiple styles of movement 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 younger, non-South Africans in the cast didn’t already know about the artist. (She died in the year after having a heart attack on the platform in Italy.) Why should new audiences learn about the legend? “In my view she would inspire young people to stand for what they believe in, expressing honesty,” remarks Seutin. “But she did it very gracefully. She’d say something poignant and then sing a lovely melody.” She wanted to take the similar method in this work. “Audiences observe movement and hear melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with powerful ideas and instances that resonate. That’s what I admire about her. Since if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They retreat. But she achieved it in a manner that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• The performance is at London, the dates