The ballet world is mourning the death of Dancing with the Stars’ Michaela Mabinty DePrince, an inspirational ballerina who beat staggering odds to become one of the world’s most famous dancers.
Michaela, an orphan from war-torn Sierra Leone, was a dancer with the Boston Ballet who gained widespread notoriety after starring in the 2011 documentary First Position. She died September 10 at only 29.
Adding to the family’s tragic loss, Michaela’s adoptive mom – who rescued Michaela from the filthy shelter where she was told she was “too ugly” to find a family – died only 24 hours later.
After her father was brutally killed in war-torn Sierra Leone and her mother died from fever, four-year-old Michaela Mabinty DePrince was abandoned by her uncle in a shelter where staff every day tried to break her spirit.
Known then as “Number 27” a young Michaela had little hope of finding a family as she had vitiligo, a condition that causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation.
The young girl, called “the devil child” because of her patchy skin, was told repeatedly that she was too ugly to be picked.
“We were all ranked from the most favored to the least, and I was at the very bottom for being rebellious and having a skin condition called vitiligo, which produces white freckles on my neck and chest,” Michaela said, adding she slept on a grass sleeping mat with “Number 26.”
Aside from the vomit-stained nightgown she was wearing, all she had was a magazine, which according to Glamour had (literally) blown onto her face. And on the cover was a ballerina en pointe – a dancer supporting all her body weight on the tips of her toes.
“The dancer looked beautiful and happy, that’s what caught my eye,” Michaela tells Glamour. “I wanted to be happy.”
And the crumpled old photo of the ballerina was the first thing she handed Elaine DePrince, who took her to her new home in New Jersey.
“There was so much love right away,” said Michaela, who over the next two decades would be the prima ballerina on the cover of magazines. “I had never been surrounded by something like that.”
‘My life is proof’
Michaela’s passion for dancing was ignited at a young age, and she pursued her dreams with remarkable dedication.
In 2011, Michaela became one of the stars of First Position, a documentary that followed six gifted dancers leading up to the competition for a place in the prestigious American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Ballet (JKO)
She not only earned a spot but was also awarded a scholarship to study at JKO.
The same year the award-winning documentary was released, Michaela also appeared on Dancing with the Stars.
“My life is proof that no matter what situation you’re in, as long as you have a supportive family, you can achieve anything,” Michaela said.
In 2012, the talented ballerina joined the renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she continued to shine as a rising star. Her exceptional talent and grace later led her to the Dutch National Ballet, where the War Child Ambassador further established herself as a formidable presence in the ballet world.
While she was living in Amsterdam and training for The Nutcracker, she received a call, inviting her to travel to New Orleans and dance in Beyonce’s hour-long video, Lemonade, which was released in 2016.
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal of meeting the pop sensation, Michaela said, “She walked up to me and said, ‘It’s such an honor to have you here.’ I was really cheesy and said, ‘The honor is mine.’ I was on cloud nine.”
‘Beacon of hope’
On September 10, her family released a heartbreaking message about the principal soloist with the Boston Ballet.
“Rest in Power,” the post starts about the dancer who died on September 10. “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, leaving an indelible mark on the world of ballet, and beyond.”
The Facebook post describes Michaela as an inspiration who “stood as a beacon of hope for many, showing that no matter the obstacles, beauty and greatness can rise from the darkest of places.”
The cause of her death has not yet been released.
Mom ‘spared the pain’
Only 24 hours after Michaela’s sudden death, her doting adoptive mom Elaine DePrince died on September 11 “during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery.”
A family statement on Facebook explains that at the time of Elaine’s death, she was unaware that her daughter had died.
“As unbelievable as it may seem, the two deaths were completely unrelated. The only way we can make sense of the senseless is that Elaine, who had already lost three children many years ago, was by the grace of God spared the pain of experiencing the loss of a fourth child.” The message continues, “What the family is going through right now is truly unimaginably painful. Grieving two family members who died within a 24-hour period is tragic and devastating. We continue to ask for privacy…”
Rest in peace Michaela and Elaine. Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can all send a lot of love to the family and friends of this mother-daughter duo.
He dug a hole in the ground and put a banana and a raw egg in it. It seems strange what he does, but the result is incredible!
Usually, I use them in the cooking, but I’ve lately discovered that eggs and bananas may also be very useful in the garden.
It may sound unusual because these are food products, not gardening supplies. They are supposed to be consumed.
But in actuality, eggs and bananas can both do amazing things for plants, and using them doesn’t need you to be an expert gardener with a green thumb.
Many people believe that gardening is a labor-intensive hobby that needs a lot of knowledge. It’s important to understand the individual requirements of each plant to ensure its growth and health, such as the quantity of water or sunlight it needs.
Because I don’t think gardening is my strong suit, I’ve been looking for easy tips that will aid me along the path.
And one of those ploys is this. All you need is a pot, a few eggs, and a bunch of bananas, but it gets millions of views on YouTube.
What therefore makes this gardening tip so well-liked?
As you can imagine, the secret is to produce plants and seedlings as effectively as possible, which is why using eggs and bananas together can be really beneficial.
Eggshells are an affordable substitute for fertilizers. Therefore, you can take advantage of eggshells’ powerful qualities instead of spending a fortune on expensive fertilizers. Rich in calcium and other minerals, eggshells are ideal for plant growing.
But it’s reported that utilizing an entire egg produces even better results. Different chemicals are released during the egg’s decomposition, which keeps the soil from rotting the roots.
Bananas, on the other hand, are packed with nutrients that decompose and release. Particularly banana peels are high in potassium, which is one of the most important nutrients for plants.
So, by burying these food items in the soil alongside your plant, you can make an efficient (and inexpensive!) natural fertilizer.
What you should do is as follows:
Take a pot and add roughly two inches of dirt to it. Put a banana and a raw egg in the middle of the pot, then top it off with more dirt.
After that, put the plant you want in the pot.
The nutrients in the egg and banana will slowly seep into the soil as they break down, giving the plant the nutrition it needs to flourish.
The fact that you can use stale eggs and bananas that would otherwise be thrown away makes this approach even better. Rather of just discarding them, you give them a new purpose—to support the growth and well-being of your plants!
You can see how to produce tomatoes by using eggs and bananas as fertilizers in the video below (or here). Excellent, in my opinion!
I will absolutely give this trick a try. I’m all for natural ways, so using eggs and bananas instead of fertilizers is a huge advantage for me! Not to mention the significant savings that this hack leaves you with due to its cost-effectiveness.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you know who might find it useful. It’s ideal right now because spring has finally arrived!
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