Michaela DePrince, a trailblazing ballerina and humanitarian who trained in Philadelphia, died at the age of 29.
Michaela DePrince, an orphan who escaped trauma and violence during her childhood to become a trailblazing figure in the world of ballet as well as a humanitarian, died at the age of 29, a spokespersonDePrince – born Mabinty Bangura -- grew up as an orphan in Sierra Leone, Africa. While at the orphanage, DePrince spotted an image from a magazine that showed an American ballet dancer.Sign up for NBC Philadelphia 's News Headlines newsletter.
"They came to me sick and traumatized by the war," her adoptive mother told the Associated Press in 2012."Michaela arrived with the worst case of tonsillitis, fever, mononucleosis and joints that were swollen." She also said that when she was 9 a teacher told her mother, “I don’t like to put money into black dancers because they grow up and end up having big boobs and big hips.”
"The survival of classical ballet is dependent on diversification. It's dancers like Michaela DePrince that are literally paving the path forward for the continuation of this artform. We cannot survive without trailblazers and courageous women like Michaela and her loss is a devastating blow," Stark explained.
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