#michaela mabinty deprince

[staticsnowfall]

michaela mabinty deprince (1995-2024)

🩰˚✧₊⁎

today, september 13th, 2024, the ballet world lost an extraordinary dancer and woman.

michaela mabinty deprince was born on january 6th, 1995, as mabinty bangura, in sierra-leone. she was orphaned, her parents passing to due to both direct and indirect causes of the civil war in her home country. she was demonized by her caretakers for her vitiligo, being called a “devil’s child”, and suffering from other forms of neglect and abuse. in 1999, deprince was adopted by an american couple along with another girl, and they were taken to new jersey, united states of america.

her hopes of becoming a ballerina had been planted when she found a ballerina on a magazine cover in her home country. she didn’t know of ballet at the time, but treasured the picture and dreamed of dancing. this dream blossomed into truth when she moved to the states, being put into ballet lessons soon after her arrival. deprince was a four-time participant in youth america grand prix, one of the largest ballet competitions in the united states. she was awarded a scholarship to study at the jaqueline kennedy onassis school of ballet, the associate school of american ballet theatre.

despite facing racial discrimination and other hardships in and out of the industry, deprince persisted in her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. in 2012, at the age of 16, she became the youngest member of dance theatre of harlem, and the next year, she joined the junior company of the dutch national ballet. she soon rose through the ranks, joining the main company and attaining the rank of soloist. she was the first dancer of african origin to ever join the company, and a shining advocate and role model for black women in ballet.

her other accomplishments include being an ambassador for war child holland, a dutch organization working to improve the wellbeing and resilience of children directly affected by war. she visited uganda and lebanon through the organization. she also appeared in beyoncé’s 2016 music video for ‘freedom’.

she will dance among all the stars in the sky. rest in peace beautiful michaela mabinty, you are already so missed. ♡

[anticoquette]

rest in peace to ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince 🩰

[lila-rae]

The Ballet world lost an incredible light today. And our little brown ballerinas lost one of their greatest role models and advocates. I’m thankful 8️⃣ got to meet and be inspired by you.

Rest easy beautiful 🩰

[blk-vinluxee]

[sleepynegress]

The news of Michaela DePrince's passing has me seriously shaken. She was so young and endured so much to reach the heights she had as a world-renowned superstar ballerina. If you can, take the time to hear her story in her own words in this TEDTalk from 10 years ago. She was a singular young woman. Be mindful, she is very candid about the horrors she endured as a young orphan in a war-torn country. Rest in Power, Mabinty 1995-2024 🦢💐

[thedepressedpelican]

Michaela Mabinty DePrince

[msclaritea]

Michaela Mabinty DePrince was far more beautiful and graceful than the crap that Hollywood is currently pushing. I don't know why she died but if I had to guess, it may have been because of losing her parents, four years ago. It's despicable that trolls are linking her death to the covid vaccine without knowing any real information.

[thesobsister]

A tragic and inspirational story with enough twists for several biopics.

Michaela DePrince, dancer, orphan, refugee, survivor, dead at 29.

aav.

[mercy-misrule]

This is just so sad, what a tragedy.

[davidwarner3]

Trailblazing ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince dies at 29

Read more..

Read more..

[elaine-of-shalott-blog]

A lovely tribute by Het National Ballet

It is with great sadness and dismay that we received the news that Michaela DePrince has passed away at the age of 29. To honour her memory, we will make it possible to donate to War Child, the organisation for which Michaela passionately worked as an ambassador.

Michaela grew up in war-ravaged Sierra Leone. At a young age, she lost both her parents and was admitted to an orphanage. Her skin condition vitiligo meant that people there treated her as inferior. Her nickname in the orphanage was devil’s child. A story she chronicled in her autobiography: Taking flight: From war orphan to star ballerina .

Michaela was adopted by the American DePrince family. Once in America, she followed her dream of becoming a ballet dancer, inspired by a photograph she once saw, still in Sierra Leone, of an American ballerina. This was not an easy path for Michaela; she was told several times that she did not have the right body type ánd skin colour to become a ballet dancer.

Determined, she persevered and in 2012 came to Europe at the invitation of the Hague dance company De Dutch Don't Dance Division, to dance in one of their productions. This also introduced her to the Dutch National Ballet, and in August 2013 she joined the first batch of the Junior Company. In 2014, she made the switch to the ‘main company’ of Dutch National Ballet, where she rose to the rank of soloist in the following years.  

From a young age, her extraordinary life story combined with her dance career did not go unnoticed. Among other things, she featured in the film documentary First Position, danced in a video by Beyoncé and Madonna bought the film rights to her autobiography. She also starred in the film version of Coppelia, choreographed by Ted Brandsen. 

Motivated to help children from war zones, Michaela became an ambassador for War Child in 2016 and committed to helping children in many ways. 

In 2022, she left Amsterdam to continue her dance career with the US Boston Ballet. 

Michaela is taken from us far too soon. Our thoughts are with her loved ones and family.

Link to donate: https://actie.voorwarchild.nl/teams/michaela?locale=en?utm_source=facebook-hnb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2425-michaela%20deprince-donatie-236

[sakuraswordly]

[kimludcom]

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A post shared by Dance Institute of Washington | DIW | D.C (@danceinstituteofwashington)

[tikitania]

Dancer Michaela Deprince || Peter Leung Choreography

RIP Sweet Angel 🤍

[sujooon]

Ballerina Michaela DePrince Passes Away at 29, Leaving Behind a Legacy of Inspiration