Michaela Deprince

Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura, 6 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, currently dancing with the Boston Ballet. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary First Position in 2011, following her and other young ballet dancers as they prepared to compete at the Youth America Grand Prix. With her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, she authored the book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina. DePrince formerly danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as the youngest dancer in the history of the company and was a former soloist with the Dutch National Ballet. Since 2016, Michaela is a goodwill ambassador with the Dutch organisation War Child, based in Amsterdam.