The ballerina Michaela DePrince has passed away, 29 years old.
"With pain in our hearts, we share the loss of star ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, whose artistry touched countless hearts and whose spirit inspired many and left an indelible mark on the ballet world and beyond", it says in the statement posted on her social media.
DePrince danced with the Boston Ballet and was a soloist with the Dutch National Ballet, as well as danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
But her path to the major ballet companies was winding. She became an orphan during the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone and was left at an orphanage in the mid-1990s, where she was ostracized and mistreated due to her vitiligo disease.
DePrince was adopted by an American couple and trained as a dancer in the USA, South Africa, and the Netherlands. She fought against racist prejudices about black dancers during her acclaimed career and has engaged in helping children in war zones.
She participated in the documentary film "First Position" in 2011.
