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“Discussing about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a royal figure,” remarks Alesandra Seutin. Known as the Empress of African Song, Makeba also associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Starting as a young person dispatched to labor to support her family in Johannesburg, she eventually served as an envoy for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the United Nations. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a Black Panther. Her rich story and impact inspire the choreographer’s latest work, the performance, set for its British debut.

A Fusion of Dance, Music, and Spoken Word

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, live music, and oral storytelling in a theatrical piece that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, particularly her experience of banishment: after moving to New York in 1959, Makeba was prohibited from her homeland for 30 years due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after wedding activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance resembles a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with a fabulous vocalist Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving her music to vibrant life.

Strength and elegance … the production.

In South Africa, a informal gathering spot is an unofficial gathering place for home-brewed liquor and lively conversation, often managed by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a shebeen queen who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was a newborn. Incapable of covering the penalty, she was incarcerated for six months, bringing her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey started – just one of the details the choreographer discovered when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” exclaims Seutin, when they met in the city after a performance. Seutin’s father is Belgian and she mainly grew up there before moving to study and work in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her South African mother would perform Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a youngster, and move along in the home.

Songs of freedom … the artist performs at the venue in 1988.

A decade ago, her parent had cancer and was in hospital in the city. “I stopped working for a quarter to take care of her and she was constantly asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were singing together,” Seutin recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in the year, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), Seutin found that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that her child Bongi passed away in labor in the year, and that due to her exile she hadn’t been able to attend her own mother’s memorial. “Observing individuals and you look at their success and you forget that they are struggling like everyone,” states Seutin.

Development and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the making of the production (first staged in the city in the year). Thankfully, Seutin’s mother’s therapy was effective, but the concept for the piece was to honor “death, life and mourning”. Within that, she pulls out elements of her life story like flashbacks, and references more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. Although it’s not overt in the show, she had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a traveler. “And we gather as these alter egos of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being inebriated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented performers appear taken over by rhythm, in harmony with the players on stage. Her dance composition incorporates various forms of dance she has absorbed over the time, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ own vocabularies, including street styles like the form.

A celebration of resilience … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the cast didn’t already know about the singer. (Makeba passed away in the year after having a cardiac event on stage in Italy.) Why should younger generations discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire the youth to advocate what they believe in, speaking the truth,” says the choreographer. “However she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something meaningful and then sing a beautiful song.” She aimed to adopt the same approach in this production. “Audiences observe dancing and listen to beautiful songs, an aspect of enjoyment, but mixed with powerful ideas and instances that hit. This is what I respect about her. Since 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 ability.”

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