US dancer: From “devil child” to ballerina – Michaela DePrince dies at the age of 29

Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone in the United States and performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, has died, her family announced in a statement. She was 29 years old.

“Michaela touched so many lives around the world, including ours. “She was an unforgettable inspiration to all who could or heard her story,” her family said on DePrinces’ social media accounts on Friday. “From her early life in war-torn Africa to stages and screens around the world, she achieved her dreams and then some.” A cause of death was not given.

DePrince was adopted by an American couple at the age of five after her parents were killed in the civil war. At the age of 17, she was featured in a documentary film and appeared on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars.” After training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of the American Ballet Theater, she became a principal dancer at the Dance Theater of Harlem. She then went to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She later returned to the United States and joined the Boston Ballet in 2021. Time and again throughout her career, she has had to overcome prejudice because of her skin color. She was also seen in Beyoncé’s musical film “Lemonade.”

“We send our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince during this time of loss,” the Boston Ballet said Saturday. “She was a wonderful person, a great dancer, and we will all miss her very much.”

In her autobiography, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, DePrince chronicles her journey from the orphanage to the stage. She also wrote a children’s book, Ballerina Dreams.

“We will miss her and her beautiful smile forever”

DePrince suffered from a skin pigment disorder, which made her think of her as a “devil’s child” in the orphanage. “I lost both parents, so I was there (in the orphanage) for about a year and wasn’t treated well because I had vitiligo,” DePrince said in 2012. In Germany, the pigment disorder is known as vitiligo. She was given “the least food, the least clothing, and so on,” the dancer added.

During this time, she saw a photo of an American ballet dancer in a magazine. “All I remember is that she looked really, really happy,” said DePrince. They saw hope in this photo and wanted to “become that person.”

Her passion inspired young black dancers to pursue their dreams, her family said. “We will miss her and her beautiful smile forever, and we know you will too,” their statement said. Her sister Mia Mabinty DePrince recalled how the siblings slept on a shared mat at the orphanage and created their own musical plays and ballets.

“When we were adopted, our parents supported our dreams and helped her become the beautiful, gracefully strong ballerina (…) She was an inspiration,” wrote Mia DePrince. “Whether she was jumping across the stage or flying to third world countries to teach dance to orphans and children, she was determined to pursue all of her dreams in art and dance.”

DePrince leaves behind five sisters and two brothers. The family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the organization War Child, for which DePrince served as an ambassador. “This work means the world to her, and your donations will directly help other children who grew up in an environment of armed conflict,” the family said.