Ballerina Michaela DePrince, whose career inspired many after she was born into war, dies at 29

Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came to the United States from an orphanage in war-torn 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 across the world, including ours. She was an unforgettable inspiration to everyone who knew her or heard her story,” her family said in a statement posted Friday on DePrince’s social media accounts.

“From her early life in war-torn Africa, to stages and screens across the world, she achieved her dreams and so much more.”

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FILE - This Monday July 9, 2012 photo shows dancer Michaela DePrince in Johannesburg.  (AP Photo Denis Farrell, File)

A cause of death was not provided.

DePrince was adopted by an American couple and by age 17 she had been featured in a documentary film and had performed on the TV show Dancing With the Stars.

After graduating from high school and the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, she became a principal dancer Dance Theatre of Harlem. She then went to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She later returned to the U.S. and joined the Boston Ballet in 2021.

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“We’re sending our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince at this time of loss,” the Boston Ballet said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday. “We were so fortunate to know her; she was a beautiful person, a wonderful dancer, and she will be greatly missed by us all.”

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

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

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FILE - In this Tuesday, July 10, 2012 photo, dancer Michaela DePrince rehearses for her lead role in Le Corsaire in Johannesburg.  (AP Photo Denis Farrell, File)

“I lost both my parents, so I was there (the orphanage) 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 ranked as numbers and number 27 was the least favorite and that was my number, so I got the least amount of food, the least amount of clothes and whatnot.”

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

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

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13:  Michaela DePrince performs 'Giselle' with the English National ballet at the Coliseum on January 13, 2017 in London, England.  (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

She said she saw hope in that photo, “and I ripped the page out and I stuck it in my underwear because I didn’t have any 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 gorgeous smile forever and we know you will, too,” their statement said.

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Michaela DePrince, center, instructs intermediate ballet students at BE Dance Studios in Miami Gardens, Fla. on July 14, 2015. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Her sister Mia Mabinty DePrince recalled in the statement that they slept on a shared mat in the orphanage and used to make up their own musical theater plays and ballets.

“When we got adopted, our parents quickly poured into our dreams and arose the beautiful, gracefully strong ballerina that so many of you knew her as today. She was an inspiration,” Mia DePrince wrote.

“Whether she was leaping across the stage or getting on a plane and flying to third-world countries to provide orphans and children with dance classes, she was determined to conquer all her dreams in the arts and dance.”

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on NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: Michaela DePrince attends the American Ballet Theatre Gala on June 13, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Ballet Theatre)

She is survived by five sisters and two brothers. The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations could be made to War Child, which is an organisation that DePrince was involved with as a War Child Ambassador.

“This work meant the world to her, and your donations will directly help other children who grew up in an environment of armed conflict,” the family statement said.

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