Star ballerina Michaela DePrince passed away

Last week, like the rest of the dance world, we were dejected and gegriefd by the news of Michaela DePrince's passing away at the age of 29.

Michaela's life story has many adversities. She grew up in civil war-ravaged Sierra Leone. At a young age, she lost her biological parents and was admitted to an orphanage. There she received inferior treatment due to her skin condition Vitiligo. Her nickname in the orphanage, Devil's Child, would later inspire the title of her autobiography: Taking flight: From war orphan to star ballerina.

In her fourth year of life, Michaela was adopted by the American DePrince family. With their support, she followed her dream of becoming a ballet dancer. A dream inspired by a photo she once saw in Sierra Leone of an American ballerina.

This road to achieving this dream again had many obstacles; several times she was told that she did not have the right body type nor the right skin color for a ballet dancer. However, this did not stop her from determinedly pushing forward for her big dream of reaching the top of the international ballet world.

At the invitation of The Hague dance company The Dutch Don't Dance Division, she came to the Netherlands in 2011. As a young dance talent, she participated in the Christmas performance “Abdallah & the Gazelle of Basra” as Palmyra, the Queen of the Harem. A year later she got to perform the role of Sugar Fairy in DDDDD's The Nutcracker. During the same period, his auditioned for The National Ballet. Starting with the first batch of the Junior Company, she made the transition within the Dutch National Ballet to the 'main company' a year later, where she rose to the rank of second soloist in the following years. In 2022, Michaela joined the American Boston Ballet, where she continued her dance career as a second soloist.

With her extraordinary life story, Michaela managed to motivate and inspire many. Among other things, she was featured in the film documentary First Position, danced in a music video by Beyoncé and Chef'Special and Madonna bought the film rights to her autobiography. She also starred in the film version of Coppelia, choreographed by Ted Brandsen. In addition, as an ambassador for War Child, she was driven to help children in war zones.

With the passing of star ballerina Michaela DePrince, the (dance) world lost a role model and source of inspiration. Her drive shows that you can always stand up for your dreams. Your dreams of the past may just be the reality of the future.  

Our thoughts go out to her loved ones and family.