Michaela DePrince's Mother Dies Unexpectedly 1 Day After Famed Ballerina
The mother of late ballet dancer Michaela DePrince died just one day after her famous daughter earlier this month.
Family spokesperson Jess Volinski confirmed in a statement posted to Facebook that Elaine DePrince died “during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery” on Sept. 11 at age 77.
A former special education teacher, Elaine DePrince raised a total of 11 children with husband Charles DePrince, who died in 2020. In the 1980s, the DePrinces adopted three sons with hemophilia, all of whom later contracted HIV and died in the 1990s.
As previously reported, Michaela DePrince died Sept. 10 at age 29. According to Volinski, Elaine DePrince was unaware of her daughter’s death when she was admitted to the hospital for surgery.
“As unbelievable as it may seem, the two deaths were completely unrelated,” the statement read. “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 statement went on to note: “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.”
Elaine DePrince is survived by five daughters — Mia, Beelee, Jaye, Mariel and Amie — and two sons, Erik and Adam.
As of Tuesday, no further details on Michaela DePrince’s cause of death had been made public.
Both the star dancer and her sister, Mia, were from Sierra Leone and were adopted by the DePrinces in 1999, according to The New York Times. The family first resided in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, before relocating to Vermont.
Michaela DePrince went on to attend the American Ballet Theater’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School on a scholarship and, after graduating, became the youngest dancer to perform principal roles when she joined the Dance Theater of Harlem in 2012. A year later, she began performing with the Dutch National Ballet and returned to the U.S. in 2022 as a Boston Ballet soloist.
Her inimitable talents and unusual life story also brought her mainstream fame beyond the ballet world. At age 17, she appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” and later worked with Beyoncé on the visual album for “Lemonade.”
In 2018, it was reported that Madonna had secured the movie rights to DePrince’s autobiography, “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.” The status of that film is unknown.
