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“When you speak about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a queen,” remarks the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, the iconic artist also associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a teenager sent to work to support her family in Johannesburg, she later served as an envoy for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a activist. Her rich life and legacy motivate Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its British debut.

The Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

The show combines movement, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a theatrical piece that is not a straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her experience of banishment: after relocating to New York in the year, she was prohibited from South Africa for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Later, she was banned from the United States after marrying activist Stokely Carmichael. The show resembles a ceremonial tribute, a deconstructed funeral – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with a fabulous vocalist the performer at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial venue for home-brewed liquor and lively conversation, usually managed by a host. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a proprietress who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Unable to pay the penalty, she was incarcerated for half a year, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life began – just one of the details Seutin discovered when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says Seutin, when we meet in the city after a performance. Seutin’s father is from Belgium and she mainly grew up there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she established her company the ensemble. Her parent would perform her music, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a child, and dance to them in the home.

Melodies of liberation … the artist sings at the venue in 1988.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had the illness 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 singing together,” she recalls. “I had so much time to kill at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to the nation in 1990, after the freedom of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the era), she discovered that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her teens, that her child the girl passed away in childbirth in the year, and that due to her exile she could not be present at her parent’s memorial. “You see people and you focus on their success and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” states the choreographer.

Development and Concepts

These reflections went into the creation of the production (premiered in Brussels in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s therapy was effective, but the idea for the work was to honor “death, life and mourning”. In this context, she pulls out threads of Makeba’s biography like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss nowadays. Although it’s not overt in the performance, she had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of personas connected to the icon to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear taken over by rhythm, in synthesis with the players on the platform. Seutin’s choreography includes various forms of dance she has learned over the years, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like the form.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

She was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a heart attack on the platform in the country.) Why should new audiences learn about the legend? “I think she would inspire the youth to advocate what they are, speaking the truth,” says the choreographer. “But she did it very gracefully. She expressed something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” She aimed to take the same approach in this production. “We see movement and listen to beautiful songs, an element of entertainment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and moments that hit. That’s what I respect about her. Since if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They back away. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• Mimi’s Shebeen is showing in London, 22-24 October