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“When you speak about Miriam Makeba in the nation, it’s like speaking about a queen,” remarks Alesandra Seutin. 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 dispatched to labor to support her family in the city, she eventually became a diplomat for Ghana, then the country’s representative to the United Nations. An vocal campaigner against segregation, she was married to a activist. Her remarkable story and impact motivate Seutin’s new production, the performance, scheduled for its UK premiere.

The Blend of Movement, Sound, and Narration

The show merges movement, instrumental performances, and oral storytelling in a theatrical piece that is not a simple biography but utilizes Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after moving to New York in 1959, Makeba was prohibited from her homeland for three decades due to her opposition to segregation. Subsequently, she was banned from the US after wedding activist her spouse. The show is like a ritual of remembrance, a reimagined memorial – some praise, part celebration, part provocation – with a fabulous vocalist Tutu Puoane at the centre reviving Makeba’s songs to dynamic existence.

Strength and elegance … the production.

In the country, a informal gathering spot is an under-the-radar gathering place for locally made drinks and animated discussions, usually presided over by a host. Makeba’s mother Christina was a shebeen queen who was arrested for illegally brewing alcohol when Miriam was a newborn. Incapable of covering the penalty, she was incarcerated for six months, bringing her baby with her, which is how her eventful life started – just one of the things Seutin learned when researching Makeba’s life. “Numerous tales!” exclaims she, when we meet in the city after a show. Seutin’s parent is Belgian and she was raised there before moving to learn and labor in the United Kingdom, where she founded her company the ensemble. Her parent would sing her music, such as the tunes, when Seutin was a child, and move along in the home.

Songs of freedom … Miriam Makeba performs at Wembley Stadium in 1988.

A decade ago, Seutin’s mother had cancer and was in hospital in the city. “I paused my career 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 remembers. “I had so much time to pass at the hospital so I started researching.” As well as reading about Makeba’s triumphant return to South Africa in 1990, after the freedom of the leader (whom she had encountered when he was a young lawyer in the 1950s), Seutin discovered that Makeba had been a breast cancer survivor in her youth, that her child the girl passed away in childbirth in 1985, and that because of her banishment she hadn’t been able to be present at her parent’s funeral. “Observing individuals and you focus on their achievements and you forget that they are struggling like anyone else,” says the choreographer.

Development and Themes

All these thoughts went into the making of the production (first staged in the city in 2023). Thankfully, Seutin’s mother’s therapy was effective, but the idea for the piece was to celebrate “loss, existence, and grief”. Within that, Seutin highlights elements of her life story like flashbacks, and references more broadly to the idea of uprooting and loss today. While it’s not explicit in the show, Seutin had in mind a additional character, a modern-day Miriam who is a traveler. “Together, we assemble as these alter egos of characters linked with the icon to greet this newcomer.”

Melodies of banishment … musicians in Mimi’s Shebeen.

In the show, rather than being intoxicated by the venue’s local drink, the skilled dancers appear taken over by beat, in synthesis with the musicians on stage. Her dance composition includes various forms of dance she has absorbed over the years, including from African nations, plus the international cast’ personal styles, including street styles like the form.

Honoring strength … Alesandra Seutin.

Seutin was taken aback to find that some of the younger, non-South Africans in the group didn’t already know about the singer. (Makeba died in 2008 after having a heart attack on stage in Italy.) Why should younger generations learn about Mama Africa? “In my view she would inspire young people to stand for what they are, expressing honesty,” remarks Seutin. “However she accomplished this very gracefully. She expressed something poignant and then perform a beautiful song.” She wanted to adopt the same approach in this production. “We see movement and listen to beautiful songs, an element of entertainment, but intertwined with strong messages and instances that resonate. This is what I admire about Miriam. Since if you are being overly loud, people won’t listen. They back away. But she did it in a way that you would accept it, and hear it, but still be graced by her ability.”

• The performance is at London, 22-24 October