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“Discussing about the legendary singer in South Africa, it’s akin to referring about a royal figure,” explains the choreographer. Known as the Empress of African Song, the iconic artist additionally associated in New York with renowned musicians like prominent artists. Beginning as a young person sent to work to support her family in the city, she later served as an envoy for the nation, then the country’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. This remarkable story and impact inspire the choreographer’s latest work, the performance, set 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 isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes her past, especially her story of exile: after relocating to the city in the year, she was prohibited from South Africa for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the US after marrying Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The performance is like a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, some festivity, part provocation – with a fabulous vocalist Tutu Puoane leading bringing Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Power and poise … Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the country, a shebeen is an unofficial gathering place for locally made drinks and lively conversation, often managed by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a shebeen queen who was detained for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was a newborn. Unable to pay the penalty, she went to prison for six months, taking her infant with her, which is how Miriam’s remarkable journey started – just one of the things the choreographer learned when researching Makeba’s life. “So many stories!” exclaims she, when they met in the city after a performance. Seutin’s father is Belgian and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the United Kingdom, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would perform her music, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a youngster, and dance to them in the living room.

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

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 always asking for the singer. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” Seutin remembers. “There was ample time to pass at the facility so I started researching.” As well as learning of her victorious homecoming to South Africa in the year, after the release 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 her child Bongi passed away in childbirth in the year, and that due to her exile she could not attend her parent’s memorial. “You see people and you look at their success and you overlook that they are struggling like anyone else,” says the choreographer.

Creation and Concepts

All these thoughts went into the creation of the production (first staged in Brussels in 2023). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the work was to honor “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of her life story like flashbacks, and nods more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession nowadays. While it’s not explicit in the show, she had in mind a second protagonist, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this newcomer.”

Rhythms of exile … performers in the show.

In the performance, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the skilled dancers appear taken over by beat, in synthesis with the players on the platform. Her dance composition includes various forms of dance she has absorbed over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including street styles like the form.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

Seutin was surprised to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group were unaware about the singer. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a cardiac event on stage in the country.) Why should younger generations discover Mama Africa? “In my view she would motivate young people to advocate what they believe in, expressing honesty,” remarks the choreographer. “However she did it very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then sing a lovely melody.” Seutin aimed to take the same approach in this work. “Audiences observe movement and hear melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and moments that resonate. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Because if you are shouting too much, people may ignore. They retreat. But she achieved it in a way that you would receive it, and understand it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• The performance is at the city, 22-24 October