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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s like speaking about a sovereign,” explains the choreographer. Referred to as the Empress of African Song, the iconic artist additionally associated in Greenwich Village with renowned musicians like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Beginning as a teenager dispatched to labor to support her family in Johannesburg, she later became a diplomat for Ghana, then the country’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. This rich life and legacy inspire the choreographer’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its British debut.

A Fusion of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, instrumental performances, and oral storytelling in a stage work that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but draws on her past, particularly her story of exile: after relocating to New York in the year, Makeba was barred from her homeland for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was banned from the United States after wedding Black Panther activist her spouse. The show resembles a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – some praise, some festivity, some challenge – with the fabulous South African singer the performer at the centre bringing her music to vibrant life.

Power and poise … the production.

In South Africa, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often managed by a host. Her parent the matriarch was a shebeen queen who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was a newborn. Incapable of covering the penalty, Christina went to prison for half a year, taking her baby with her, which is how Miriam’s eventful life began – just one of the details Seutin discovered when studying Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” says 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 UK, where she established her company Vocab Dance. Her parent would sing Makeba’s songs, such as Pata Pata and Malaika, when she was a youngster, and dance to them in the living room.

Songs of freedom … the artist performs at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A ten years back, Seutin’s mother had cancer and was in hospital in London. “I paused my career for three months to look after her and she was constantly asking for Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were performing as one,” she recalls. “There was ample time to pass at the hospital so I began investigating.” In addition to reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa 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 someone who overcame illness in her teens, that Makeba’s daughter Bongi died in labor in the year, and that due to her banishment she hadn’t been able to be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you overlook that they are facing challenges like everyone,” states Seutin.

Development and Themes

These reflections contributed to the making of the production (first staged in Brussels in the year). Fortunately, her parent’s treatment was effective, but the concept for the work was to honor “death, life and mourning”. In this context, she pulls out threads of Makeba’s biography like flashbacks, and references more broadly to the theme of displacement and dispossession nowadays. Although it’s not explicit in the performance, Seutin had in mind a second protagonist, a contemporary version who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these other selves of personas connected to Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in the show.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear taken over by beat, in synthesis with the musicians on stage. Seutin’s dance composition includes various forms of movement she has learned over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the international cast’ own vocabularies, including urban dances like krump.

A celebration of resilience … the creator.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the newer, international in the group were unaware about the artist. (Makeba died in the year after having a heart attack on stage in Italy.) Why should new audiences discover the legend? “I think she would motivate the youth to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” says Seutin. “But she accomplished this very elegantly. She expressed something poignant and then sing a beautiful song.” Seutin wanted to adopt the same approach in this production. “We see dancing and listen to melodies, an element of enjoyment, but intertwined with powerful ideas and moments that hit. This is what I admire about Miriam. Since if you are shouting too much, people won’t listen. They retreat. Yet she achieved it in a manner that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her talent.”

• The performance is showing in London, the dates