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“When you speak about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a royal figure,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Known as the Empress of African Song, Makeba also spent time in New York with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Beginning as a young person dispatched to labor to support her family in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for Ghana, then Guinea’s representative to the United Nations. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was the wife to a Black Panther. Her remarkable life and legacy motivate the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its UK premiere.

The Blend of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen merges dance, live music, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, particularly her experience of banishment: after relocating to the city in the year, Makeba was barred from South Africa for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the United States after wedding Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance resembles a ritual of remembrance, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with the exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Strength and elegance … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In South Africa, a shebeen is an unofficial venue for locally made drinks and lively conversation, often presided over by a host. Makeba’s mother Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was a newborn. Incapable of covering the fine, she was incarcerated for half a year, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey began – just one of the details Seutin discovered when researching her story. “So many stories!” exclaims Seutin, when we meet in the city after a performance. Seutin’s parent is Belgian and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her dance group the ensemble. Her South African mother would sing Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a child, and move along in the home.

Melodies of liberation … Miriam Makeba performs 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. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had encountered when he was a young lawyer in the era), she found that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter Bongi passed away in childbirth in the year, and that due to her banishment she could not attend her parent’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you overlook that they are struggling like everyone,” states the choreographer.

Creation and Themes

These reflections went into the making of the show (premiered in Brussels in 2023). Fortunately, Seutin’s mother’s treatment was successful, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of Makeba’s biography like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss nowadays. While it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a traveler. “And we gather as these alter egos of characters linked with the icon to greet this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the shebeen’s local drink, the skilled performers appear possessed by beat, in harmony with the musicians on the platform. Her choreography incorporates multiple styles of movement she has absorbed over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including urban dances like krump.

A celebration of resilience … Alesandra Seutin.

She was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire young people to advocate what they believe in, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “But she did it very gracefully. She’d say something meaningful and then sing a beautiful song.” Seutin wanted to adopt the similar method in this production. “We see dancing and hear beautiful songs, an aspect of enjoyment, but intertwined with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I respect about her. Because if you are being overly loud, people may ignore. They retreat. But she did it in a way that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• The performance is at London, the dates