Ballerina Michaela DePrince, whose career inspired many despite being born into the war, dies at 29

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came to the United States from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone and performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, has died, her family said in a statement. She was 29.

“Michaela touched so many lives around the world, including ours. She was an unforgettable inspiration to all who knew her or heard her story,” her family said in a statement posted on DePrince’s social media accounts on Friday. “From her early life in war-torn Africa to stages and screens around the world, she achieved her dreams and so much more.”

A cause of death was not given.

DePrince was adopted by an American couple and by the age of 17 had already starred in a documentary and appeared on the television show “Dancing With the Stars.”

After graduating from high school and graduating from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of the American Ballet Theatre, she became a principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She then moved to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She later returned to the United States and joined the Boston Ballet in 2021.

“We send our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince during this time of loss,” the Boston Ballet said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday. “We were so lucky to know her; she was a wonderful person, a wonderful dancer, and we will all miss her very much.”

In her memoir, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, she recounted her journey from orphanage to stage. She also wrote a children’s book called Ballerina Dreams.

DePrince suffered from a skin pigment disorder, which is why she was called the “child of the devil” in the orphanage.

“I lost both my parents, so I was there (at the orphanage) for about a year and wasn’t treated very well because I had vitiligo,” DePrince told the AP in a 2012 interview. “We were sorted by numbers and number 27 was the least popular and that was my number, so I got the least food, the least clothing and so on.”

She went on to say that during the civil war in Sierra Leone, she remembered seeing a photo of an American ballet dancer on a magazine page that had been blown against the gate of the orphanage.

“I just remember her looking really, really happy,” DePrince told AP, adding that she wished she could “become that exact person.”

She said she saw hope in that photo, “and I ripped the page out and put it in my underwear because I had no place to put it,” she said.

Her passion helped inspire young black dancers to pursue their dreams, her family said.

“We will miss her and her beautiful smile forever and we know you will too,” their statement said.

Her sister, Mia Mabinty DePrince, recalled in the statement that they slept on a shared mat in the orphanage and invented their own musical theater pieces and ballets.

“When we were adopted, our parents fulfilled our dreams and created the beautiful, graceful ballerina that so many of you know her to be today. She was an inspiration,” wrote Mia DePrince. “Whether she was jumping across the stage or hopping on a plane and flying to third world countries to teach dance to orphans and children, she was determined to pursue all of her dreams in the fields of art and dance.”

She leaves behind five sisters and two brothers. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to War Child, an organization for which DePrince served as a War Child Ambassador.

“This work meant the world to her and your donations will directly help other children growing up in an environment of armed conflict,” the family said in a statement.