Michaela DePrince
Michaela DePrince | |
---|---|
Occupation | Ballet dancer |
Years active | 2012-present |
Career | |
Current group | Boston Ballet |
Former groups | Dance Theatre of Harlem Dutch National Ballet |
Michaela Mabinty DePrince[1] (born Mabinty Bangura, 6 January 1995)[2] is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, currently dancing with the Boston Ballet. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary First Position in 2011, following her and other young ballet dancers as they prepared to compete at the Youth America Grand Prix. With her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, she authored the book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.[3] DePrince formerly danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as the youngest dancer in the history of the company and was a former soloist with the Dutch National Ballet. Since 2016, Michaela is a goodwill ambassador with the Dutch organization War Child, based in Amsterdam.
Early life
Born as Mabinty Bangura into a
In 1999, at the age of four,[8] she and another girl, also named Mabinty, later given the name Mia, were adopted by Elaine and Charles DePrince, a couple from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and taken to the United States.[5][9] The DePrince family has 11 children, including Michaela, nine of whom were adopted.[10]
Career
Inspired by a magazine cover of a ballerina she found and kept while in Sierra Leone, DePrince trained as a ballet dancer in the U.S, performing at the
DePrince was awarded a scholarship to study at the
DePrince was one of the stars of the 2011 documentary film First Position, which follows six young dancers vying for a place in an elite ballet company or school,[12] and performed on the TV show Dancing with the Stars.[13] In 2011 she made her European debut in Abdallah and the Gazelle of Basra with De Dutch Don't Dance Division (Dance Company The Hague, NL), The Hague, Netherlands. She came back there a year later to dance The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker at the Lucent Dance Theatre.
In 2012, she graduated from the
In July 2013, she joined the junior company of the
DePrince has cited
In 2021, DePrince joined the Boston Ballet as second soloist.[28]
DePrince danced the leading role in Coppelia, a 2021 ballet film without dialogue that combines live dance with animation. It is a modernized version of a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.[29]
Personal life
While a dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem, DePrince went on tour to Israel where she prayed at the
In 2015, It was reported that DePrince was in a relationship with ballet dancer Skyler Maxey-Wert, whom she also talked about in her book.[31][30]
References
- ISBN 978-0-385-75513-9.
- Dance Spiritmagazine. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
- ^ Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina at Amazon.
- ^ Smith, David, "Sierra Leone war orphan returns to Africa en pointe for ballet debut", The Guardian, 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d Smith, David (16 July 2012). "Sierra Leone war orphan returns to Africa en pointe for ballet debut". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Becoming Michaela DePrince". Ayiba. April 2015.
- ^ "HuffPost Teen's '18 Under 18' Of 2012! (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. 31 December 2012.
- ^ a b c Petesch, Carley (11 July 2012). "Star dancer born into war grows up to inspire". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ Marquis, Cate, "Ballet documentary defies stereotypes", STL Jewish Light, 16 May 2012.
- ^ Hayasaki, Erika, "I Was Orphan Number 27: Ballerina Michaela DePrince's Inspiring Story", Glamour, 16 July 2015.
- ^ Epstein, Eli, and Jennifer Polland (5 July 2012), "The Most Impressive Kids Graduating From High School This Year", Business Insider.
- ^ Garrett, Giannella (May 2012). "Defying Gravity: Teen Ballerina Michaela DePrince". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Defying The Odds: 1 Ballerina's Incredible Journey From African Orphanage To Center Stage". Huffington Post. 8 May 2012.
- ^ Murray, Rheana (11 April 2013). "Michaela DePrince: War orphan to star ballerina". Daily News. New York.
- ^ Mackrell, Judith (28 November 2013), "Everyday racism: how to be a black ballet dancer in a white world", The Guardian.
- ^ "From A War-Torn Childhood To Dance Stardom". Huffington Post. 11 July 2012.
- ^ Harss, Marina (5 October 2013). "Michaela DePrince – Junior Company, Dutch National Ballet". DanceTabs. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ "Michaela DePrince CV", Nationale Opera & Ballet.
- ^ Siegal, Nina (13 March 2015). "For Michaela DePrince, a Dream Comes True at the Dutch National Ballet". The New York Times.
- ^ Klein, Alyssa, "Meet The Sierra Leonean Ballet Star From Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’", OkayAfrica, April 29, 2016.
- ^ "African Voices". CNN. 30 August 2012.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (19 March 2015). "MGM acquires rights to 'Taking Flight' ballerina memoir". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Anthony D'Alessandro (19 March 2015), "Ballerina Memoir ‘Taking Flight’ En Pointe For MGM, Alloy", Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ Respers, Lisa (14 March 2018), "Madonna to direct biopic of ballerina from 'Lemonade' video", CNN.
- ^ Hallemann, Caroline (14 March 2018), "Madonna to Direct a Film Based on Ballerina Michaela DePrince's Life", Town & Country.
- ^ Rose, Steve (14 March 2018), "Madonna to direct movie based on life of ballerina Michaela DePrince", The Guardian.
- ^ Wingenroth, Lauren (13 March 2018), "Michaela DePrince Is Getting A Biopic—And Madonna Is Directing It", Dance Magazine.
- ^ "Boston Ballet announces its roster for 2021-22". MSN. September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Coppelia: the movie". operaballet.nl. 14 July 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9780385755146.
- ^ Poole, Sheila (29 July 2015), "Black ballerina Michaela DePrince hopes to inspire others", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.