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“If you talk about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s like speaking about a sovereign,” states the choreographer. Known as the Empress of African Song, the iconic artist additionally associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a young person dispatched to labor to support her family in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for Ghana, then the country’s representative to the UN. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was the wife to a Black Panther. Her rich story and impact inspire the choreographer’s latest work, the performance, set for its UK premiere.

The Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen merges movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that is not a simple biography but draws on Makeba’s history, especially her story of exile: after moving to the city in 1959, Makeba was barred from her homeland for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the US after wedding Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance resembles a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, some festivity, some challenge – with a exceptional South African singer the performer at the centre bringing her music to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial venue for locally made drinks and lively conversation, often managed by a shebeen queen. Makeba’s mother Christina was a proprietress who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Miriam was 18 days old. Unable to pay the fine, Christina went to prison for six months, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life started – just one of the details the choreographer discovered when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says she, when they met in Brussels after a performance. Her parent is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before moving to learn and labor in the UK, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her South African mother would perform her music, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when Seutin was a child, and move along in the home.

Songs of freedom … the artist sings at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A decade ago, Seutin’s mother had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was constantly asking for Miriam Makeba. She was so happy when we were performing as one,” she remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to learning of her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), Seutin discovered that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her teens, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in the year, and that because of her banishment she could not attend her own mother’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” says the choreographer.

Development and Themes

All these thoughts went into the creation of the show (premiered in Brussels in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin pulls out elements of her life story like flashbacks, and references more generally to the theme of uprooting and loss nowadays. Although it’s not overt in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “And we gather as these alter egos of personas connected to the icon to greet this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear possessed by beat, in harmony with the players on stage. Her dance composition includes various forms of dance she has learned over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like the form.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

She was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (She died in 2008 after having a heart attack on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about Mama Africa? “In my view she would motivate young people to advocate what they believe in, speaking the truth,” remarks the choreographer. “But she accomplished this very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then sing a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to take the same approach in this work. “Audiences observe movement and hear beautiful songs, an element of enjoyment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I respect about Miriam. Since if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They retreat. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October