“Her life was defined by grace, purpose and strength,” the statement said. “Her dedication to her art, her humanitarian efforts and her courage to overcome insurmountable challenges will forever inspire us. She was a beacon of hope for many, showing that despite the obstacles, beauty and greatness can emerge from even the darkest places.”
DePrince’s family released a statement following the announcement of her death, according to Guardian.
“I am truly in a state of shock and deep sadness. My beautiful sister is no longer here,” Mia DePrince wrote. “From the beginning of our story in Africa, we slept on a shared mattress in the orphanage, Michaela (Mabinty) and I made up our own musical plays and performed them. We created our own ballets… When we were adopted, our parents quickly poured into our dreams and raised the beautiful, gracefully strong ballerina that so many of you knew her to be today. It was an inspiration.”
Born Mabinty Bangura in Sierra Leone, DePrince was sent to an orphanage at the age of three after both her parents died in the country’s civil war. At the orphanage, he experienced abuse and malnutrition, he told The Associated Press in 2012.
“I lost both my parents so I was there [το ορφανοτροφείο] for about a year and they didn’t treat me very well because I had vitiligo,” she said at the time. “We ranked by numbers and number 27 was the least favorite and that was my number, so I got the least amount of food, the least amount of clothes and everything else.”
At 17, she appeared in First Position, a documentary that follows six dancers as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix. She received a scholarship to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Ballet School of the American Ballet Theatre. After graduating from high school, DePrince worked at the Dance Theater of Harlem, becoming the youngest principal dancer in the theater’s history.
In 2012 she performed in her first professional full ballet in South Africa. The following year, he joined the youth company of the Dutch National Ballet.
Audiences unfamiliar with ballet may recognize DePrince from her Lemonade Beyonce, in which the then 21-year-old dances wearing an old-fashioned tutu and headpiece. In 2021, she joined the Boston Ballet as second soloist. That year, he played the title role in the ballet film Coppelia.
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