🔗 Share this article

“Discussing about the legendary singer in the nation, it’s akin to referring about a sovereign,” explains the choreographer. Known as Mama Africa, the iconic artist additionally spent time in Greenwich Village with jazz greats like prominent artists. Starting as a teenager sent to work to support her family in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for Ghana, then the country’s official delegate to the United Nations. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife to a Black Panther. This rich story and impact motivate Seutin’s new production, Mimi’s Shebeen, set for its British debut.

A Blend of Movement, Sound, and Narration

Mimi’s Shebeen combines dance, instrumental performances, and spoken word in a stage work that isn’t a straightforward biodrama but utilizes Makeba’s history, especially her experience of banishment: after relocating to New York in the year, she was barred from South Africa for 30 years due to her anti-apartheid stance. Later, she was excluded from the United States after wedding activist Stokely Carmichael. The show is like a ceremonial tribute, a reimagined memorial – part eulogy, part celebration, some challenge – with a fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Strength and elegance … the production.

In South Africa, a shebeen is an under-the-radar gathering place for home-brewed liquor and animated discussions, often managed by a host. Her parent Christina was a proprietress who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Makeba was 18 days old. Unable to pay the penalty, she was incarcerated for six months, taking her baby with her, which is how her eventful life began – just one of the details the choreographer learned when studying her story. “Numerous tales!” says Seutin, when they met in the city after a performance. Her father is Belgian and she was raised there before relocating to study and work in the UK, where she founded her dance group the ensemble. Her South African mother would sing Makeba’s songs, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a child, and dance to them in the home.

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

A decade ago, her parent had the illness and was in medical care in the city. “I paused my career for three months to take care of her and she was always requesting Miriam Makeba. It delighted her when we were singing together,” she recalls. “There was ample time to kill at the facility so I began investigating.” In addition to learning of Makeba’s triumphant return to the nation in 1990, after the release of Nelson Mandela (whom she had met when he was a legal professional in the 1950s), she found that she had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that Makeba’s daughter the girl passed away in labor in 1985, and that due to her banishment she could not be present at her own mother’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their success and you forget that they are facing challenges like everyone,” says Seutin.

Creation and Concepts

These reflections went into the making of the show (first staged in Brussels in the year). Thankfully, Seutin’s mother’s treatment was successful, but the idea for the piece was to honor “death, life and mourning”. In this context, she pulls out threads of her life story like memories, and nods more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. Although it’s not overt in the performance, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these alter egos of personas linked with Miriam Makeba to welcome this young migrant.”

Rhythms of exile … musicians in the show.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the multi-talented dancers appear possessed by beat, in synthesis with the players on stage. Her choreography incorporates multiple styles of movement she has learned over the years, including from Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal, plus the global performers’ personal styles, including urban dances like krump.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was surprised to find that some of the newer, international in the cast were unaware about the singer. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a heart attack on the platform 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 Seutin. “But she did it very elegantly. She’d say something poignant and then sing a beautiful song.” She wanted to adopt the similar method in this work. “Audiences observe movement and listen to melodies, an aspect of entertainment, but mixed with strong messages and instances that resonate. That’s what I admire about Miriam. Since if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They retreat. But she did it in a way that you would receive it, and hear it, but still be blessed by her ability.”

• The performance is showing in the city, 22-24 October