An Enormous Loss

By Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ministeriebz/48865568151/,
CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152604341

 

I met Michaela Mabinty DePrince only once but I felt personally bereaved when I read about her death earlier today.  I first heard of DePrince shortly after my late spouse died of motor neurone disease.  My late spouse was also Sierra Leonean who shared something else with DePrince. We had been married for nearly 27 years and watching life drain away from the most precious person in the world was the most painful experience of my life.

The post about the success of a 17-year-old Sierra Leonean coincided with a postcard on my gym notice board advertising "ballercise" (ballet exercise) classes,  They were offered by a teacher who had trained in Brisbane and danced with the Queensland Ballet. I had studied a little bit of ballet as an undergraduate when I was bursting with energy and ambition.  I had never ceased to attend performances and I continued to devour every review book or article on ballet that I could obtain but there were no ballet classes at my graduate school in LA or indeed at the Inns of Court in London,

Irrational though it may sound to describe the coincidental appearance of the post on the BBC website and the advert as providential, that is just how it seemed.  I enrolled in the class and miraculously much of the ambition and energy of youth gushed back.  I have often told my teacher that her classes raised me from utter despair but I would never have thought of joining the class had I not read that article about DePrince.

Shortly after DePrince had won the Youth America Grand Prix, I learned that she had joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet.  I flew over to Amsterdam for its first performance,  I reviewed the show in The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 on 25 Nov 2013.  I described her as "simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while."  My review was read by the Junior Company's Artistic Coordinator Ernst Meisner which led to correspondence and eventually an opportunity to meet the dancers.  

Every year the Dutch National Ballet holds a gala followed by a party.  At the party dancers, musicians and the management of the company mingle with the audience.  It was on one of those occasions that I exchanged a few words with DePrince.  It was a glorious evening which I have described as The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet.   Just as I was leaving I spotted DePrince and greeted her,   It was a very short conversation as I was rushing for the underground but I left the theatre thinking how that exceptionally talented young dancer was as gracious off stage as she was magnificent on it.

Over the years I have made the acquaintance of many other members of the Dutch National Ballet and some have become dear friends,  I also met many members of the audience including a wonderful teacher who came to train Powerhouse Ballet a few years ago. I have also got to know the Netherlands well.  It is the one part of the world outside my country that I feel most at ease.   All of those acquaintances and friendships as well as my affection for the Netherlands I owe to that first visit to the Stadsshouwburg and ultimately to the artist who caused me to make that visit,

According to The Guardian DePrince's family has requested donations to  War Child, instead of flowers.  I am sure that her many fans around the world will respond generously to that request.