Michaela DePrince, resilient Black ballerina whoworked with Beyoncé and Madonna, dies at 29and her adoptive mother died the same day - unaware she'd lost Michaela.
By Alexandra Del Rosario
Sept. 16, 2024 12:46 PM PT
Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who defied the odds of her early childhood in war-torn Sierra Leone to become a trailblazing performer and choreographer, has died.
DePrince died Tuesday, her family said in a statement Sunday on her sister Mia DePrince’s Instagram. In a previous statement released Friday, the family said the dancer, who performed with the Dance Theater of Harlem, the Dutch National Ballet and Boston Ballet, leaves “an indelible mark on the world of ballet, and beyond.” She was 29.
A cause of death was not revealed in either statement, though Sunday’s missive shut down speculation that DePrince’s death was related to that of mother Elaine DePrince, who adopted Michaela and Mia in the 1990s. Elaine DePrince [her mother]“died during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery”on Wednesday and did not know of her daughter’s death “at the time of her procedure,” Sunday’s statement clarified.
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As news of DePrince’s death spread over the weekend, ballet and dance luminaries including trailblazing American Ballet Theater principal dancer Misty Copeland and Debbie Allen paid tribute to her….
DePrince seemingly knew no bounds onstage as she executed pieces — from ballet classics including “Don Quixote,” “Swan Lake” and “Coppélia” to George Balanchine‘s “Who Cares” and “Jewels” — with undeniable grace, strength and precision. Beyond the ballet world, DePrince brought her talents mainstream, appearing on “Dancing With the Stars” and collaborating with brands including Nike and Tommy Hilfiger.She also worked with pop divas Beyoncé, for her “Lemonade” visual album, and Madonna, who was set to adapt the dancer’s life for the screen.
DePrince was prominently featured in the ballet competition documentary “First Position,” in which she spoke of the “miracle” of her survival. “Everywhere you looked you saw someone die and it was just for no reason,” she said in the film before recalling how rebels had shot her parents.
Offstage, DePrince used her platform to raise awareness for children affected by war as an ambassador for War Child, speak about her vitiligo and her experiences as a Black dancer, and advocate for more diversity in the ballet world.
“I would like to change the way people see Black dancers,” she told the Guardian in 2012. “I just want to be a great role model for kids. I would hate to disappoint anybody.”
DePrince was born Jan. 6, 1995, in Sierra Leone amid a civil war that counted her parents among its tens of thousands of casualties. Labeled “the devil’s child” for her vitiligo at her orphanage, DePrince found hope in a magazine photo of an American ballerina in pointe shoes.
“I ripped the page out and I stuck it in my underwear because I didn’t have any place to put it,” she told the Associated Press in 2012.
Elaine DePrince and Charles DePrince adopted Michaela and her sister in 1999.DePrince studied at the Rock School of Dance in Pennsylvania and had competed at Youth America Grand Prix, the prestigious international ballet competition at the center of “First Position.” The ballet competition awarded DePrince with a scholarship to continue her studies at the American Ballet Theater’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
She graduated in 2012 and joined the Dance Theater of Harlem, where she became the company’s youngest dancer to perform principal roles. In 2013, she took her career overseas to perform with the Dutch National Ballet, where she climbed the ranks from the junior company to soloist in the main troupe. She returned to the U.S. in 2022 as a soloist with Boston Ballet.
DePrince published her memoir, “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina,” in 2014. She also received recognition in Time’s Inspiring Women in the World and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Arts & Culture.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-09-16/michaela-deprince-dead-ballerina-beyonce-madonna
Born Mabinty Bangura in Sierra Leone, DePrince was sent to an orphanage aged three, after both of her parents died in the country’s civil war. At the orphanage, she experienced mistreatment and malnourishment, she told the Associated Press in 2012.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/13/michaela-mabinty-deprince-ballerina-dies