Ballerina Michaela DePrince, Whose Career Inspired Many After Her Wartime Birth, Dies at 29

Arts

“We were so lucky to have known her; she was a beautiful person, a wonderful dancer, and we will all miss her greatly,” the Boston Ballet said in a statement.

By Freida Frisaro, Associated Press

September 17, 2024 | 8:18 a.m.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came to the United States from an orphanage in Sierra Leone and performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, has died, her family said in a statement. She was 29.

“Michaela touched so many lives around the world, including ours. She was an unforgettable inspiration to all who knew her or heard her story,” her family said in a statement posted on DePrince’s social media accounts Friday. “From her youth in war-torn Africa, to stages and screens around the world, she made her dreams come true and so much more.”

The cause of death was not specified.

DePrince was adopted by an American couple and, at the age of 17, she appeared in a documentary film and performed on the television show “Dancing With the Stars.”

After graduating from high school and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of the American Ballet Theatre, she became a principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She then traveled to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She then returned to the United States and joined the Boston Ballet in 2021.

“We extend our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince at this time of grief,” the Boston Ballet said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday. “We were very fortunate to have known her; she was a beautiful person, a wonderful dancer, and we will all miss her greatly.”

In her memoir, “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina,” she chronicles her journey from orphanage to stage. She has also written a children’s book, Ballerina Dreams.

DePrince suffered from a skin pigmentation disorder that led to her being labeled the “devil’s child” at the orphanage.

“I lost both my parents, so I was there for about a year and I wasn’t treated very well because I had vitiligo,” DePrince told the AP in a 2012 interview. “We were sorted by numbers and number 27 was the least favorite and that was my number, so I got the least food, the least clothes and all that.”

She added that she remembered seeing a photo of an American ballet dancer on a magazine page that had exploded against the orphanage’s door during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

“All I remember is she looked really, really happy,” DePrince told the AP, adding that she wanted to “become exactly that person.”

She said she saw hope in the photo, “and I ripped the page out and put it in my underwear because I had no place to put it,” she said.

Her passion helped inspire young black dancers to pursue their dreams, her family said.

“We will miss her and her beautiful smile forever and we know we will miss him too,” their statement read.

Her sister Mia Mabinty DePrince recalled in the statement that they slept on a communal mat at the orphanage and invented their own musical plays and ballets.

“When we were adopted, our parents quickly embraced our dreams and created the beautiful, graceful, and strong ballerina that many of you know today. She was an inspiration,” Mia DePrince wrote. “Whether she was jumping on stage or hopping on a plane to third world countries to teach dance lessons to orphans and children, she was determined to conquer all of her dreams in the arts and dance.”

She is survived by five sisters and two brothers. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to War Child, an organization DePrince was involved with as a War Child ambassador.

“This work meant a lot to her, and your donations will directly help other children who have grown up in an environment of armed conflict,” the family’s statement said.