Translating Miriam Makeba Into Dance – Without Makeba

Choreographer Nora Chipaumire’s Miriam, which she describes as “a solo for two people,” is definitely a translation rather than a representation of the late South African singing star. “[V]iewers of workshop showings … complained to Ms. Chipaumire that they couldn’t find Makeba at all … [and] Omar Sosa’s score, which runs from dense percussion to ruminative electric piano, refers to Bach’s music but not Makeba’s.”