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“When you speak about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s similar to talking about a queen,” states the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, Makeba also spent time in New York with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a young person sent to work to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she later served as an envoy for the nation, then Guinea’s representative to the UN. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. Her rich life and legacy motivate the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its British debut.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

The show merges dance, live music, and spoken word in a stage work that is not a simple biography but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after moving to the city in 1959, she was prohibited from South Africa for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was excluded from the United States after wedding Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with a exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane leading reviving her music to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In the country, a shebeen is an under-the-radar venue for locally made drinks and lively conversation, usually presided over by a shebeen queen. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a shebeen queen who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was 18 days old. Unable to pay the penalty, Christina went to prison for half a year, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey began – just one of the things the choreographer discovered when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says she, when they met in Brussels after a show. Seutin’s parent is from Belgium and she mainly grew up there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her South African mother would sing Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the living room.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A decade ago, Seutin’s mother had cancer and was in hospital in London. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was always requesting Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to the nation in 1990, after the freedom of the leader (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the era), she discovered that Makeba had been a someone who overcame illness in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl passed away in childbirth in 1985, and that because of her exile 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.

Development and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the creation of the production (premiered in Brussels in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the piece was to honor “death, life and mourning”. In this context, Seutin highlights elements of her life story like memories, and references more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession nowadays. Although it’s not overt in the show, she had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to greet this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

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

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the group were unaware about the artist. (She died in 2008 after having a cardiac event on stage in Italy.) Why should younger generations learn about the legend? “In my view she would motivate young people to stand for what they believe in, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “However she did it very elegantly. She’d say something poignant and then perform a lovely melody.” She aimed to take the same approach in this work. “Audiences observe dancing and hear melodies, an aspect of enjoyment, but intertwined with strong messages and moments that resonate. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people won’t listen. They retreat. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is at London, the dates