What is so great about a black nineteen-year-old ballerina performing on stage in the United States? Many of them dance on stage. I do not find it extraordinary,” remarked a critic nonchalantly…almost with disdain. His friend scribbled a crisp reply on a piece of paper, “Check Google.com. You may have to eat your hat.” How right he was. Thousands of miles from where this young ballerina now lives is a place called Sierra Leone - a West African country famous for its alluvial diamonds. These diamonds became the major cause for a brutal civil war that lasted for eleven years (in the 1990s), affecting almost a million people. More than 50,000 people were brutally killed, unprecedented numbers mutilated and raped, as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels ran amok in a once-peaceful country. Among the lucky survivors was a three-year-old girl, Mabinty Bangura, who the world now knows as Michaela DePrince - the ballerina who has co-authored the book (along with her mother) based on her life – ‘Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina’. Having lost her father to the rebels’ bullets and her mother to starvation, and with her young brothers still in childhood, Michaela was raised in an orphanage of 27 children. Michaela was despised due to her skin condition (vitiligo - which led to pigmentation). The ignorant African folk termed her as a ‘Devil’s Child’, and the orphanage assigned her Number 27 - to denote the least preferred orphan in the group. If that was not sorrow enough, Michaela witnessed the brutal mutilation and murder of her pregnant teacher, whose tummy was cut open by rebels and the foetus thrown away. But a kindly wind also landed a magazine at her door, featuring a ballerina on its cover. The little girl instantly realised what she wanted to be. Her good fortune continued, and she was adopted by a compassionate New Jersey couple, the DePrinces. She was then only four years old.
USA was a very different country. She was surprised to see white people all around. The little girl looked closely at every white woman, searching for the ballerina whose picture she had carefully hidden. Encouraged by her mother Elaine, who explained to her that hard work was the only path to success, Michaela began to concentrate on ballet – though she was barely big enough to stand on her little feet. The United States still harboured racism – the colour of one’s skin determining perception and attitude - and no one was willing to invest on a ‘black ballerina’. A black girl from Africa landing a lead role in a ballet was unthinkable. At the tender age of eight, Michaela was cruelly denied the role of Marie in ‘The Nutcracker’, just because she was black. But Michaela was determined to break the stereotype - like her new role model, the first black principal ballerina Lauren Anderson. She famously stated, “Being a black ballet dancer, I have to work ten times harder than the others”. But Michaela was ok with that. After all, breaking a glass ceiling should be ‘easier’ than witnessing the gruesome murder of one’s favourite teacher or being labelled a ‘Devil’s Child”. She graduated from the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York in 2012, and then joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She has performed at the Youth America Grand Prix, the biggest ballet event in the world. She was a part of the documentary film, ‘First Position’, and has also performed in the famous TV show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Her professional debut in Mzansi Productions and the premiere of Le Corsaire (in 2012) made even the connoisseurs notice her presence. In 2013, Michaela joined the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. The world has begun to take notice of her talent. She has just turned 20 this January (6th.).
Michaela has also worked on her body, to get the perfect ballerina figure; people who earlier coarsely commented on her breasts and feet now admire the newborn ballerina. She states maturely, “Calling a little kid a Devil’s Child is terrible. It ruined my self-esteem for years. But now I do not even like compliments. I just put them away”. Michaela believes that she has a long way to go before being recognised as one of the greatest ballerinas of the modern era - white or black. She is determined to set up an art school in her beloved Sierra Leone, a project that is most close to her heart. Michaela also believes that, despite a terrible past, one has to look for positives and focus on excelling in what one does today. Michaela DePrince may well become the greatest ballerina of the twenty-first century; and, as importantly, a phenomenal inspiration especially to girls in the ‘underdeveloped’ world. The journey that commenced in Sierra Leone continues in New York and Amsterdam – it’s a dream called Michaela DePrince.
The writer is a renowned Kuchipudi danseuse and choreographer
Read More...