This past Monday, I received an email in response to The Ballet Herald newsletter which had been sent out that day incredulously asking, “How did the tragic death of Michaela DePrince not make this week’s headlines???”
In short, it’s because my way of processing the information was to focus on this piece; it made me feel more connected with the profoundness of our loss, and it feels more meaningful to me than regurgitating the news that had already spread like wildfire across industry and mainstream media.
As was the entire dance world, I was shook by the announcement made on Michaela’s Instagram and Facebook accounts about the dimming of her bright light. Like many, I did not know her personally. Yet, like many, I have witnessed her journey from afar be it through watching First Position, reading Taking Flight, or keeping up with her career thanks to social media.
In reaction her to passing on September 10, 2024 (at the time of this publishing, no cause of death has been revealed), I decided to reread Michaela DePrince’s first book. Written at the age of seventeen along with her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, who – in an unrelated matter – died 24 hours after her daughter, Taking Flight shares the story of Michaela’s childhood in Sierra Leone through the moment before she joins Dutch National Ballet.
The ballerina’s memoir takes the reader on a journey of a woman who has lived the lowest of lows and the highest of highs, one who has witnessed too much tragedy and one who has celebrated unleashed happiness.
As someone who has never met Michaela, I am grateful to at least be able to get a sense of her determined, energetic, and vibrant essence through her own and her mother’s words. I highly recommend the read.
If you choose to buy Taking Flight using this affiliate link, thank you so much.
I will donate 100% of the proceeds earned through October 31, 2024 to War Child Nederland, the non-profit organization that Michaela had been an ambassador for since 2016.
At this time, I also can’t stop thinking about Mia, the sister with whom Michaela was closest to.
Their immediate kinship was initiated by mutual compassion while suffering the hardships of young children in an African orphanage where they were degraded to the numbers 26 and 27. In the most horrific of times and during the most joyful experiences, throughout middle school angst and adult maturity, the two young ladies were so fortunate to be each other’s beacons.
I can’t even imagine the heartbreak and pain that Mia – and the entire DePrince family – is going through right now.
In an interview by Dance Spirit which was originally published in October 2014 and included at the end of Taking Flight, Michaela is asked where she sees herself in ten years:
“By the end of ten years, no matter where I am, I’d hope to be a principal dancer. I’d also like to start a free school for the arts in Sierra Leone. I feel deeply about the kids there who lack opportunities, and I’d like to share my good fortune with them.”
Unfortunately, she never had the chance to fully realize her aspirations.
Rest in peace and power, Michaela Mabinty DePrince, knowing that you are forever an inspiration in the dance community and beyond.
✱ For a deep dive conversation about Michaela DePrince, listen below.
Featured Portrait of Michaela DePrince by Wikkie Hermkens from Michaela’s Facebook page.
