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“When you speak about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s like speaking about a sovereign,” remarks Alesandra Seutin. Referred to as Mama Africa, Makeba also spent time in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a young person sent to work to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for the nation, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. This rich story and impact inspire the choreographer’s new production, the performance, scheduled for its UK premiere.

A Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a simple biography but draws on Makeba’s history, especially her story of exile: after relocating to New York in the year, she was prohibited 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 show resembles a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – some praise, part celebration, some challenge – with the fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane leading bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Strength and elegance … the production.

In South Africa, a shebeen is an under-the-radar gathering place for locally made drinks and lively conversation, usually managed by a host. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a proprietress who was detained for producing drinks without permission when Makeba was 18 days old. Unable to pay the penalty, she was incarcerated for six months, taking her infant with her, which is how her remarkable journey started – just one of the things the choreographer learned when studying Makeba’s life. “So many stories!” says Seutin, when we meet in Brussels after a show. Seutin’s parent is Belgian and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her South African mother would sing her music, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the home.

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

A decade ago, 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 always requesting the singer. She was so happy when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to kill at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a young lawyer in the era), she 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 due to her banishment she could not be present at her parent’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you look at their success and you overlook that they are struggling like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Creation and Themes

These reflections contributed to the making of the show (premiered in the city in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s therapy was successful, but the idea for the work was to honor “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin pulls out threads of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more generally to the idea of uprooting and loss nowadays. Although it’s not explicit in the performance, she had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “And we gather as these alter egos of characters connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in the show.

In the performance, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled dancers appear taken over by rhythm, in synthesis with the players on stage. Seutin’s choreography incorporates various forms of movement she has absorbed over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ personal styles, including urban dances like krump.

Honoring strength … the creator.

She was taken aback to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group didn’t already know about the artist. (Makeba died in the year after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about Mama Africa? “I think she would inspire young people to stand for what they are, speaking the truth,” remarks Seutin. “However she accomplished this very elegantly. She expressed something meaningful and then perform a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to adopt the similar method in this production. “Audiences observe movement and hear beautiful songs, an aspect of entertainment, but intertwined with strong messages and instances that resonate. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people won’t listen. They retreat. Yet she achieved it in a way that you would accept it, and understand it, but still be graced by her ability.”

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