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. ♡
4K notes
·
View notes
so today at work one of my coworkers hands me a box
I have no context for this. He’s a 50? 60? Year old plumber who tends to walk into the office, tell a dad joke, and leave. I’ve just arrived at work and am still putting my purse away. So he hands me this box and says it comes with instructions. I open it and unfold this
He says his great grandma probably made it
This pansy is the tiniest pocket in the world
It could use some blocking after who knows how many years in the box but look at these sweet little pansies!
The pattern was clearly typed on a typewriter, several pages of it. I guess this was an apron specifically for having your friends over for tea.
I just happened to be wearing a skirt that kind of goes with it, so I did wear it all day (it’s a @mayakern skirt!) and another friend said I look like I should be living in a shoe. Perhaps as some sort of mouse girl making pastries for the other woodland creatures. But uhhhhh what an incredible heirloom piece to just be handed. It’s probably twice as old as I am. I’m definitely going to bring it to stitch circle this week
7K notes
·
View notes
I will never ever ever ever get over Diego Velazquez's portrait work
First four are paintings of little people (jesters) of the Spanish court - you can read more about them here.
Last one is a painting of Juan de Pareja, another painter (you can read more about him here, this article and most other sources say he was Diego Velazquez's slave who was later freed, but I saw another one say that that was recently debunked so idk which is correct lol). It's the earliest known portrait of an Afro-Spanish man.
612 notes
·
View notes
Omg I've been headcanon-ing that felix is like that cause he's autistic for years it's great to see The Felix Agreste Enjoyer agreeing
(Mentor AU) Felix is so deep on the spectrum he classifies as shrimp colours!
He masks with minimal social interaction and an intimidating aura. Only Bri knows what a creature he truly is (and that's why she loves him)! 💖
484 notes
·
View notes
it’s so interesting how gloreth is seen not only as some great noble hero, a warrior who bravely slayed the monster, but also as an adult. a grown-up knight who knew what she was going. when in reality she was just a little kid. a kid who didn’t know what she was doing, not really. a kid with a wooden sword. a kid under her parents’ influence. a kid who only started seeing nimona as a monster because that’s what she was told. and yet she ended up depicted as an adult in the statue, in the storybooks, in the scroll used to justify trying to kill nimona again.
at the beginning of the movie when she’s being introduced via storybook, she says “go back to the shadows from whence you came” in a courageous, commanding voice, even though that’s not quite what happened! in reality her voice was scared, and a little bit uncertain. the narrative was always twisted in her favor because she was seen as the hero.
3K notes
·
View notes