Life
Michaela DePrince: African ballerina rises to top, inspires young girls
When she was around 8 and rehearsing for The Nutcracker, just a few days before the performance she was told, “I’m sorry, you can’t do it. America’s not ready for a black girl ballerina.”
For DePrince, “to say this to an 8-year-old is just devastating. It was terrible.”
When she was 9, a teacher told her mother: “I don’t like to put money into black dancers because they grow up and end up having big boobs and big hips.”
DePrince looked down at her petite figure and protested, “I don’t have boobs. I don’t get it.”
Instead of getting her down, “It makes me more determined,” she said. “Because I’ve been through so much, I know now that I can make it and I can help other kids who have been in really bad situations realize that they can make it too.”
Her story, her technique, her focus, is set to inspire other young black and African girls who face hardship to pursue their dreams.
Her presence “shakes and rattles the whole idea that ballet is not for black people and shows it’s for all people,” said Dirk Badenhorst, CEO-designate of South Africa Mzansi Ballet. “Brilliance is colorblind and it really is proved by Michaela DePrince.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
