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“Discussing about the legendary singer in South Africa, it’s similar to talking about a royal figure,” explains Alesandra Seutin. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist also associated in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a young person dispatched to labor to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she eventually became a diplomat for Ghana, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. Her remarkable life and legacy inspire Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its UK premiere.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

The show combines movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a stage work that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, especially her story of exile: after relocating to New York in 1959, she was prohibited from her homeland for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was excluded from the US after marrying Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, some festivity, part provocation – with a exceptional vocalist the performer leading reviving her music to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a shebeen is an unofficial venue for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, usually managed by a shebeen queen. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was 18 days old. Incapable of covering the penalty, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how her eventful life started – just one of the things Seutin learned when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” exclaims Seutin, when they met in the city after a show. Seutin’s father is Belgian and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her dance group the ensemble. Her parent would sing Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when Seutin was a child, and dance to them in the home.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at the venue in 1988.

A decade ago, her parent had cancer and was in hospital in London. “I paused my career for three months to take care of her and she was always asking for Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to kill at the hospital so I began investigating.” As well as learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to the nation in 1990, after the release of the leader (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), Seutin found that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter Bongi passed away in labor in the year, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to attend her parent’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” says Seutin.

Development and Themes

These reflections went into the making of the production (premiered in the city in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the concept for the work was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. In this context, she pulls out elements of Makeba’s biography like memories, and references more generally to the idea of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not overt in the show, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of characters linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s home-brew, the skilled dancers appear taken over by beat, in synthesis with the musicians on the platform. Seutin’s choreography includes multiple styles of dance she has learned over the time, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including urban dances like the form.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

She was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the cast were unaware about the singer. (Makeba passed away in the year after having a heart attack on the platform in the country.) Why should new audiences learn about the legend? “In my view she would motivate young people to advocate what they are, speaking the truth,” remarks Seutin. “But she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something poignant and then perform a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to adopt the similar method in this production. “Audiences observe movement and hear melodies, an element of entertainment, but mixed with strong messages and moments that hit. That’s what I admire about her. Because if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They back away. Yet she did it in a way that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is at the city, 22-24 October