Michaela DePrince, groundbreaking ballerina, dies at 29 – NBC10 Philadelphia

DePrince – born Mabinty Bangura – grew up as an orphan in Sierra Leone, Africa. While at the orphanage, DePrince discovered a picture in a magazine that showed an American ballet dancer.

“I just remember her looking really, really happy,” DePrince told the Associated Press in 2012. DePrince said she wanted to “become that person.”

During her stay at the orphanage, DePrince suffered from abuse, malnutrition and the skin disease vitiligo.

“I lost both my parents, so I was there (at the orphanage) for about a year and wasn't treated very well because I had vitiligo,” she told the Associated Press in 2012. “We were sorted by numbers, and number 27 was the least popular and that was my number, so I got the least food, the least clothes, and so on.”

DePrince told the Associated Press that she walked miles barefoot to reach a refugee camp after learning her orphanage was about to be bombed. She was then adopted along with two other girls by a couple from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She then moved to the United States at the age of four.

“They came to me sick and traumatized by the war,” their adoptive mother told the Associated Press in 2012. “Michaela came to me with severe tonsillitis, fever, mononucleosis and swollen joints.”

DePrince said her time at the orphanage affected her for years, but when she remembered how much the ballerina picture in the magazine had inspired her, she soon found solace and inspiration in dance.

DePrince began training in various competitions before attending the Rock School for Dance Education, a prestigious ballet school in Philadelphia.

During her dance career, DePrince says she experienced racial discrimination. When she was rehearsing for “The Nutcracker” at age 8, she was told, “I'm sorry, you can't do that. America isn't ready for a black ballerina,” according to the Associated Press.

She also said that a teacher told her mother when she was nine, “I don't like investing money in black dancers because when they grow up, they end up with big breasts and big hips.”

DePrince, however, was undeterred and continued to rise in the world of ballet. At age 17, she was featured in a documentary and appeared on the television series “Dancing With the Stars.” She graduated from high school and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of the American Ballet Theatre and worked at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she was the youngest principal dancer in the theatre's history.

In July 2012 she also performed in her first professional ballet in South Africa.

In 2013, she joined the junior company of the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam and was accepted as a student there in 2014. She continued to rise through the ranks, breaking new ground while inspiring a whole generation of black and brown girls.

Her fame continued to grow when she appeared in Beyoncé's musical film “Lemonade” in 2016. Pop superstar Madonna was also in talks to direct a biopic based on DePrince's memoir in 2018.

DePrince later joined the Boston Ballet as a second soloist in 2021 and danced the lead role in the 2021 ballet film “Coppelia.”

In addition to dancing, DePrince was also a humanitarian for children affected by conflict and violence. She was also an ambassador for War Child Holland, an independent non-governmental organization that works to ensure children have access to protection, education and psychosocial support.

DePrince's family and friends have not yet announced the cause of death or released any information about the funeral.

“Her life was one of grace, determination and strength. Her unwavering commitment to her art, her humanitarian efforts and her courage to overcome unimaginable challenges will forever inspire us,” a spokesperson wrote on her Instagram page. “She was a beacon of hope to many, showing that despite all obstacles, beauty and greatness can rise from even the darkest places.”