Michaela DePrince

Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, writer and humanitarian activist who broke racial barriers within classical dance. She achieved international recognition through the documentary First Position and developed her career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dutch National Ballet and Boston Ballet. She died in New York on September 10, 2024, at the age of 29; the cause of her death was not publicly disclosed.

She was born Mabinty Bangura during Sierra Leone's civil war and lost her parents when she was young. At an orphanage, she experienced malnutrition, mistreatment and discrimination because of vitiligo, a condition that causes areas of skin to lose pigmentation. A photograph of a ballerina found in a magazine inspired her interest in ballet. In 1999, she was adopted by Elaine and Charles DePrince, moved to the United States and began professional training at the Rock School for Dance Education.

A performance at the Youth America Grand Prix earned her a scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. In 2012, she joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem and became the youngest dancer in the company's history. The following year she entered Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company and later rose to the rank of soloist. From 2021 until 2024, she was a second soloist with Boston Ballet.

She co-authored the autobiography Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina and the children's book Ballerina Dreams with her adoptive mother. She also appeared in Beyoncé's visual project Lemonade and starred in the dance film Coppelia. Her story was selected for a film adaptation whose development was announced in 2018 with Madonna attached to direct.

From February 2016, she served as a War Child ambassador and used her personal experiences to advocate for education and psychological support for children affected by armed conflict. She visited humanitarian programmes in Uganda and Lebanon, participated in activities with refugee children and organised the Dare to Dream event to raise funds and promote childhood resilience.

She was raised by Elaine and Charles DePrince in a family of eleven children, nine of whom were adopted. She maintained an especially close relationship with Mia DePrince, another girl named Mabinty who was adopted from the same orphanage. Charles died in 2020, while Elaine died on September 11, 2024, one day after Michaela, from an unrelated cause and without having learned of her daughter's death.

In 2015, she publicly discussed her relationship with ballet dancer Skyler Maxey-Wert, a fellow dancer and training partner. No later romantic relationship was reliably made public. During her career, she collaborated with figures including Beyoncé, Ted Brandsen and Tamara Rojo, while dancers such as Misty Copeland and Precious Adams later highlighted her influence on younger generations of Black artists.

Mentioned people

Beyoncé

Singer

Madonna

Singer

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