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“Discussing about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a queen,” explains the choreographer. Called Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally associated in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a young person sent to work to support her family in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. This remarkable story and impact inspire Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, scheduled for its British debut.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

The show merges movement, live music, and spoken word in a stage work that is not a simple biography but utilizes Makeba’s history, especially her experience of banishment: after moving to the city in the year, she was prohibited from her homeland for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Later, she was banned from the United States after marrying activist her spouse. The performance is like a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with a exceptional South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving her music to dynamic existence.

Strength and elegance … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often managed by a host. Makeba’s mother the matriarch was a proprietress who was arrested for producing drinks without permission when Miriam was a newborn. Unable to pay the fine, Christina went to prison for half a year, bringing her infant with her, which is how her remarkable journey began – just one of the things the choreographer discovered when researching her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims Seutin, when we meet in the city after a performance. Seutin’s father is from Belgium and she was raised there before moving to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she founded her dance group Vocab Dance. Her South African mother would perform her music, such as the tunes, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the home.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba sings at Wembley Stadium in the year.

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 asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she remembers. “There was ample time to kill at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about her victorious homecoming to the nation in the year, after the release of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a legal professional in the 1950s), she discovered that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her teens, that her child Bongi died in childbirth in the year, and that due to her exile she hadn’t been able to attend her parent’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you focus on their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” says the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

These reflections contributed to the making of the show (first staged in Brussels in the year). Thankfully, her parent’s therapy was effective, but the idea for the work was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights threads of Makeba’s biography like memories, and nods more generally to the idea of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not overt in the performance, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a contemporary version who is a migrant. “And we gather as these other selves of personas linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the shebeen’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by beat, in harmony with the players on stage. Seutin’s choreography incorporates various forms of dance she has absorbed over the years, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like krump.

Honoring strength … the creator.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group were unaware about the artist. (She passed away in 2008 after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should new audiences discover the legend? “In my view she would motivate the youth to advocate what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks Seutin. “However she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something meaningful and then sing a beautiful song.” Seutin aimed to take the same approach in this production. “We see movement and listen to melodies, an element of entertainment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and moments that hit. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They retreat. But she did it in a manner that you would accept it, and understand it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October