Ballerina Michaela DePrince, Whose Career Inspired Many After She Was Born Into War, Dies At 29

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — 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 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.

DePrince was adopted by an American couple and by age 17 she had been featured in a documentary film and had performed on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars.”

After graduating from high school and the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, she became a principal dancer Dance Theatre of Harlem. She then went to the Netherlands, where she danced with the Dutch National Ballet. She later returned to the U.S. 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 labeled “the devil’s child” at the orphanage.

“I lost both my parents, so I was there (the