🔗 Share this article

“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s like speaking about a royal figure,” states the choreographer. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally spent time in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a young person sent to work to provide for her relatives in Johannesburg, she eventually became a diplomat for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was married to a Black Panther. This remarkable story and impact motivate Seutin’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its UK premiere.

A Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen merges dance, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a stage work that is not a straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after relocating to New York in 1959, she was prohibited from her homeland for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after wedding Black Panther activist her spouse. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with a exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane leading bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Strength and elegance … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often presided over by a host. Her parent Christina was a shebeen queen who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was 18 days old. Unable to pay the penalty, Christina was incarcerated for six months, taking her infant with her, which is how her remarkable journey started – just one of the things the choreographer discovered when researching her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims Seutin, when they met in the city after a show. Her father is from Belgium and she was raised there before relocating to learn and labor in the United Kingdom, where she founded her company Vocab Dance. Her parent 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 performs at Wembley Stadium in the year.

A ten years back, her parent had cancer and was in medical care in London. “I stopped working for three months to look after her and she was always asking for the singer. She was so happy when we were performing as one,” 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 freedom of the leader (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the era), she discovered that she had been a someone who overcame illness in her teens, that Makeba’s daughter the girl died in childbirth in 1985, and that due to her exile she hadn’t been able to be present at her own mother’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you look at their success and you overlook that they are facing challenges like anyone else,” states the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

All these thoughts contributed to the making of the production (first staged in Brussels in 2023). Fortunately, her parent’s therapy was successful, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “death, life and mourning”. Within that, Seutin pulls out threads of her life story like flashbacks, and nods 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. “Together, we assemble as these alter egos of personas connected to the icon to greet this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear possessed by beat, in synthesis with the musicians on the platform. Her choreography incorporates multiple styles of dance she has learned over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ personal styles, including urban dances like krump.

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 passed away in 2008 after having a heart attack on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations learn about the legend? “In my view she would inspire the youth to stand for what they believe in, expressing honesty,” says the choreographer. “But she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” She wanted to adopt the same approach in this work. “We see dancing and hear melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with powerful ideas and moments that hit. This is what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people won’t listen. They back away. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October