29-year-old Michaela DePrince, a Boston ballet dancer who inspired people despite being born into a time of war, passes away.
Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who danced on some of the biggest stages in the world and immigrated to the United States from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone, passed away.
Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince passed away, according to a statement from her family. She arrived in the US from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone and performed on some of the biggest stages in the world. Her age was 29.
“Michaela had an incredible impact on a great number of lives, including our own. Her family released a statement on Friday that was shared on DePrince’s social media platforms, saying, “She was an unforgettable inspiration to everyone who knew her or heard her story.” “She accomplished her dreams and so much more, from her early life in war-torn Africa to stages and screens across the world.”
It was not stated what caused the death.
DePrince was adopted by an American couple, and by the time she was 17 years old, she had appeared in a documentary and on the television program “Dancing With the Stars.”
She joined Dance Theatre of Harlem as a lead dancer following her graduation from high school and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of American Ballet Theatre. After that, she traveled to the Netherlands to perform with the Dutch National Ballet. In 2021, she joined the Boston Ballet after returning to the United States.
Michaela Mabinty DePrince’s family is receiving our love and support during this difficult time, the Boston Ballet said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Saturday. “She was a lovely person and an amazing dancer; we were so lucky to have known her, and we will all miss her terribly.”
She described her journey from the orphanage to the stage in her biography, “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.” Ballerina Dreams is a children’s book that she also wrote.
Because of her skin pigmentation condition, DePrince was referred to as “the devil’s child” in the orphanage.
In a 2012 interview with the AP, DePrince said, “I lost both of my parents, so I was there (the orphanage) for about a year and I wasn’t treated very well because I had vitiligo.” “We were given numbers, and since I was number 27, which was the least preferred, I received the least amount of food, clothing, and other items.”
She continued by mentioning that she had seen an image of an American ballet dancer on a magazine page that had blown against the orphanage’s fence during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
DePrince told the AP, “All I remember is she looked really, really happy,” and she expressed her desire to “become this exact person.”
“I ripped the page out and I stuck it in my underwear because I didn’t have anywhere to put it,” she stated, expressing her hope that she saw in that picture.
According to her relatives, her enthusiasm encouraged young Black dancers to follow their aspirations.
Their statement read, “We know you will miss her and her beautiful smile forever, too.”
In the declaration, her sister Mia Mabinty DePrince described how they used to make up their own ballets and musical theater productions while sleeping on a shared mat in the orphanage.
“Our parents eagerly poured into our dreams once we were adopted, and from that, the lovely, beautifully strong ballerina that so many of you recognized her as today was born. Inspired by her, Mia DePrince wrote. “She was determined to conquer all her dreams in the arts and dance, whether it was leaping across the stage or boarding a plane and flying to third-world countries to teach dance to orphans and children.”
Two brothers and five sisters survive her. The family asked that donations be made to War Child, an organization that DePrince was affiliated with as a War Child Ambassador, in place of flowers.
According to the family statement, “This work meant the world to her, and your donations will directly help other children who grew up in an environment of armed conflict.”