Michaela DePrince who left war zone to become a ballerina dies at 29

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 across the world, including ours. She was an unforgettable inspiration to everyone who knew her or heard her story,” her family said in a statement posted on Friday on DePrince’s social media accounts.

“From her early life in war-torn Africa, to stages and screens across the world, she achieved her dreams and so much more.”

A cause of death was not provided.

After graduating from high school and the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, she became a principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

She then went to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She later returned to the US and joined the Boston Ballet in 2021.

“We’re sending our love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince at this time of loss,” the Boston Ballet said in a statement to the Associated Press on Saturday.

“We were so fortunate to know her; she was a beautiful person, a wonderful dancer, and she will be greatly missed by us all.”

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

DePrince suffered from a skin pigmentation disorder that had her labelled “the devil’s child” at the orphanage.

“I lost both my parents, so I was there (the orphanage) for about a year and I wasn’t treated very well because I had vitiligo,” DePrince told the AP in a 2012 interview.

“We were ranked as numbers and number 27 was the least favourite and that was my number, so I got the least amount of food, the least amount of clothes and whatnot.”

She told added that she remembered seeing a photo of an American ballet dancer on a magazine page that had blown against the gate of the orphanage during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

“All I remember is she looked really, really happy,” DePrince told the AP, adding that she wished “to become this exact person”.

She said she saw hope in that photo, “and I ripped the page out and I stuck it in my underwear because I didn’t have any 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 gorgeous smile forever and we know you will, too,” their statement said.

The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations could be made to War Child, which is an organisation that DePrince was involved with as a War Child Ambassador.

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