Poppy in a daffodil field
Drawn from a photo by Diane Moline.
#2 in my new collection of “Difference-Makers (that I never knew!) … Michaela de Prince, born January 6, 1995 in Sierra Leone.
Born Mabinty Bangura in Sierra Leone, she was orphaned very young in the civil war. Her uncle brought her to an orphanage, but she was malnourished, mistreated and bullied as a “devil’s child” because of a skin disease that causes depigmentation. She was adopted at age 4 by an American couple and has lived in the United States since then. She is one of 11 children in the family, all but 2 as adopted.
Michaela persisted in her pursuit to be a ballerina, despite bending told, at age 8, that she couldn’t be in the Nutcracker because "America's not ready for a black girl ballerina", and at 9, her adoptive mother was told that that black dancers weren’t worth investing money in. But her mother persisted, also, and would dye Michaela’s pale costumes and shoes to match her darker skin.
Michaela and her mother wrote “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.” She starred in the documentary “First Position” as a teenager and young ballet dancer. She was the youngest dancer in the history of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and now dances with the Dutch National Ballet.
“Her career seems almost fated: Outside her orphanage one day, the wind had literally blown a magazine onto her face; the cover showed a ballerina en pointe. “The dancer looked beautiful and happy—that’s what caught my eye,” Michaela remembers. “I wanted to be happy.” And when she met her new mother, Elaine DePrince, that tattered photo was the first thing she handed her.”
On the subject of ballerinas:
One day recently, I was enamored by the dancing finches in our backyard. They played long enough for me to capture several acts.