By Le Figaro with AFP
Published
3 hours ago,
Updated 4 minutes ago
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The dancer’s relatives announced her death in a message posted on Instagram on Friday. The Sierra Leonean war survivor was the youngest principal dancer at Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York. The cause of her death has not been released.
The dance world has lost a star. Michaela DePrince, a rare black prima ballerina of this caliber, orphaned by the civil war in Sierra Leone and adopted by a family in the United States, has died at the age of 29, her family announced on Instagram Friday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we learn of the passing of superstar ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, whose artistry touched countless hearts and whose spirit inspired so many, leaving an indelible mark on the world of ballet and beyond.”is written on the artist’s account, signed “MDP team” with a photo of the young woman and her age.
The ballet corps of Boston, the large historic city in New England on the northeast coast of the United States, also shared on Instagram its “love and support to the family of Michaela Mabinty DePrince (…) a beautiful person, a wonderful dancer and will be missed by all”.
The young woman, symbol of hope and grace, “had made history as the youngest principal dancer at Dance Theatre of Harlem (in New York), before moving to the Netherlands to dance with the Dutch National Ballet, then boosting her career with the Boston Ballet by returning to the United States where her performances continued to captivate audiences.”.
She had been the subject of a documentary, The dance competition by Bess Kargman, released in 2012. In March 2018, American megastar Madonna announced that she was making a feature film based on Michaela DePrince’s story. The film, which never saw the light of day, was to be adapted from the autobiographical book Taking Flightpublished in 2014.
Orphaned by the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002), abandoned by her uncle, suffering from vitiligo – a disease causing depigmentation of the skin – Michaela DePrince had been taken in by an orphanage in her country and adopted by an American couple. Having become a professional dancer, she had also joined the Joburg Ballet, the ballet corps of Johannesburg, in South Africa, before going to the Netherlands and returning to the United States.
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