Michaela DePrince is a world-famous ballerina who has danced with the Boston Ballet and even appeared in music videos for Beyoncé and Madonna. She became famous because she worked hard and had the support of two very loving people: her adoptive parents, who always believed in her abilities. But even though her story has a happy ending, she did not have a typical start to her life. Today, we’d like to tell you an interesting story about Michaela’s life. We hope it will make you want to follow in her footsteps and be as successful as she has been.
Michaela’s life was not a bed of roses and unicorns before she was adopted.
Michaela was born in the country of Sierra Leone in the year 1995. Her parents named her Mabinty, but when they died, her uncle gave her to an orphanage where she was treated like a number.
She talked about her time in orphanages in an interview by saying things like,
They named us from 1 to 27. One was the favorite child of the orphanage and 27 was the least favorite.
Michaela came in at number 27. She has vitiligo, which is an extremely rare skin condition. Because she was different, people in the orphanage called her the “devil’s child.”
The young girl felt better when she was with her best friend. She was also known as Mabinty, and the orphanage gave her the number 26 bed. The two girls liked to sing together, play make-believe, and make up stories about what their lives would be like if they were adopted.
In just one moment, the girl’s life turned into something out of a fairy tale.
During this time, a New Jersey resident named Elaine DePrince wanted to adopt a child from Africa. Michaela was supposed to take care of her friend Mabinty. But before she went on a trip to adopt a child, she was confused, which turned out to be Michaela’s fate.
In an interview, Elaine talked about what it was like to be the adoptive mother.
I got a call from the adoption agency. They said, ’Which Mabinty are you adopting? We have 2 of them.’
After that, Elaine found out that 12 families had turned down the other Mabinty because of the way her skin looked. When she heard this, she decided right away that she would adopt both of the young women. Because Elaine was so unsure about being adopted herself, she probably won’t forget the first time she met Michaela.
She was standing there with her arms folded, really angry,
Elaine recalled.
I think…she just thought there was going to be more rejection ahead of her.
Michaela grew to think that her adoptive parents were the kindest and most selfless heroes.
When Michaela was a little girl living in an orphanage, she saw a picture of a ballerina in the newspaper. It caught her attention right away. This is when she first dreamed of becoming a professional dancer, and she held on to this dream all the way through her childhood.
When she got to her adoptive parents’ house, she showed this picture to her mother, Elaine, and told her that one of her childhood wishes was to have pointe shoes like a real-life ballerina. Elaine was so moved and surprised by Michaela’s performance that she didn’t know what else to say except that she would dance one day.
Even though Michaela’s life in the U.S. was starting a new and promising chapter, she continued to worry about being rejected. At first, she even slept with the light on because of her fears. But the love and care she got from her parents helped her broken heart heal, and she was soon at peace again. She then started doing things to reach her lifelong goal.
Michaela started her new life by putting a lot of effort into making her holy dream come true. Her hard work paid off in a big way because of it.
Michaela’s dream of becoming a professional ballerina came true when she got used to her new life and started doing well in her dance classes. She knew that there would be problems to work through. She was especially worried about the vitiligo she had developed. Before she went on stage for the first time, she asked her mother if the people in the audience could see the spots on her body from where they were sitting.
Elaine recalled,
I said, ’No, not really.’ They looked like pixie dust. And she says, ’Oh, good. Now I can be a professional ballerina.’
She was the youngest ballerina to ever perform at New York City’s Dance Theatre of Harlem. This was when she was 17 years old. Michaela then got a job with the Dutch National Ballet, and since then, she has thought of Amsterdam as her permanent home. She knows that it is both a success she has earned and a dream that has come true for her.
It’s not a fairy tale, you know,
she said.
You have to work hard. There is a lot of loss, a lot of pain. But, you know, performing? I love it.
The young woman wants people of all ages to be inspired by what she has been through.
Michaela is lucky because one of the first black principal American ballerinas, Lauren Anderson, is her own personal role model. The young woman wrote an autobiography about her life, and now Madonna wants to make a movie about Michaela. She has said that when she heard about the ballerina’s journey, it left her speechless.
Madonna said in a statement that this is how she would talk about her plans for the movie:
Michaela’s journey resonated with me deeply as both an artist and an activist who understands adversity. We have a unique opportunity to shed light on Sierra Leone and let Michaela be the voice for all the orphaned children she grew up beside. I am honored to bring her story to life.
Which part of Michaela’s story hit you the hardest, and why? Do you know of any other people who came from nothing and overcame hard times to become very successful?
