Black ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince has died at the age of 29

Michaela Mabinty DePrince, the groundbreaking ballerina who overcame adversity with poise, grace and tenacity, has said her final goodbyes. On September 13, representatives from DePrince's team announced in a statement posted on Instagram that DePrince had died. She was 29 years old.

“Rest in peace… It is with pain in our hearts that we share the loss of star ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, whose art touched countless hearts and whose spirit inspired many, leaving an indelible mark on the world of ballet and beyond,” the statement said. “Her life was marked by grace, determination and strength. Her unwavering commitment to her art, her humanitarian efforts and her courage to overcome unimaginable challenges will inspire us forever. She was a beacon of hope to many, showing that despite all obstacles, beauty and greatness can rise from even the darkest places.”

Born in Sierra Leone, DePrince lost both her parents at the age of three during the country's civil war. She was placed in an orphanage where she was reportedly neglected, abused and bullied. The ballerina said ballet saved her spirit at a time when she felt “helpless.”

“I felt like I had nothing, no future or nothing to look forward to,” DePrince said in a 2023 interview. “Then I found this magazine at the orphanage and it was a picture of a ballerina. She looked so beautiful and so elegant. And I just wanted to find my own fairytale.”

When she was finally adopted by Elaine and Charles DePrince of New Jersey, DePrince immediately showed her adoptive mother the photo she had kept from that magazine. At age four, she was enrolled in ballet classes, and after years of training, DePrince eventually overcame all adversities and became a professional ballerina.

“There are moments when you feel like you're not good enough. A lot of teachers said to me, 'We don't really believe in black ballerinas,' or 'We think you'll get fat and get big boobs and big thighs. You should just be a modern dancer.' A lot of people didn't believe in me,” she explained. “I knew I wanted to do this, and [that] this was my passion and I had to make sure I could pursue my passion.”

Recommended Stories

Not only was DePrince one of the few black professional ballerinas, she also suffered from vitiligo, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes loss of pigment in the skin.

“I remember my first show. I was terrified because I thought, OK, if people could see my spots, that meant I couldn't be the ballerina I wanted to be,” she told NBC News, explaining that her mother's reassurance that her spots weren't visible to the audience confirmed to her that she could be a professional ballerina.

Inspired by her predecessors, including Lauren Anderson and Misty Copeland, the latter of whom featured DePrince in her 2022 book “Black Ballerinas,” DePrince made history at age 17 by becoming the youngest principal dancer at the Dance Theater of Harlem. A year later, she joined the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam, where she eventually became a soloist. In 2016, Beyoncé cast DePrince for a solo performance on the song “Freedom” on her visual album “Lemonade.” She also appeared in British Vogue and Nike and continued her ballet career in the United States with the Boston Ballet, which issued its own statement after her death.

“We send our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince during this time of loss,” the dance company wrote on Instagram. “We were so lucky to know Mabinty; she was a wonderful person, a wonderful dancer, and we will all miss her very much.”

In addition to her captivating performances, Mabinty DePrince was also a humanitarian. As an ambassador for War Child Holland, the ballerina campaigned for children affected by conflict and violence. She also hosted the “Dare to Dream” gala, which supported the well-being and mental health of children in war zones.

Although her journey came to an abrupt end, DePrince's story lives on in her memoir, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, and her children's book, Ballet Dreams.