Michaela DePrince
Sierra Leonean–American ballet dancer (1995–2024)
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Key Takeaways
- Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura ; January 6, 1995 – September 10, 2024) was a Sierra Leonean–American ballet dancer who danced with the Boston Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Dutch National Ballet.
- In 2012, DePrince danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as the youngest dancer in the history of the company.
- With her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, she authored the 2014 book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina (also published as Hope in a Ballet Shoe ).
- She died aged 29.
- Her adoptive parents were told that her father was shot and killed by the Revolutionary United Front when she was three years old and that her mother starved to death soon after.
Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura; January 6, 1995 – September 10, 2024) was a Sierra Leonean–American ballet dancer who danced with the Boston Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Dutch National Ballet.
DePrince rose to fame after starring in the documentary First Position in 2011, which followed her and other young ballet dancers as they prepared to compete at the Youth America Grand Prix, where she won a scholarship to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. In 2012, DePrince danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as the youngest dancer in the history of the company. From 2013 to 2020, she was with the Dutch National Ballet.
With her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, she authored the 2014 book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina (also published as Hope in a Ballet Shoe). From 2016 to 2024, she was a goodwill ambassador with the Amsterdam-based organization War Child. She died aged 29.
Early life
Born as Mabinty Bangura on January 6, 1995, into a Muslim family in Kenema, Sierra Leone, she grew up as an orphan after her uncle brought her to an orphanage during the civil war. Her adoptive parents were told that her father was shot and killed by the Revolutionary United Front when she was three years old and that her mother starved to death soon after.
Frequently malnourished, mistreated, and derided as a "devil's child" because of vitiligo, a skin condition causing depigmentation, she fled to a refugee camp after her orphanage was bombed.
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