I’m here to say that Michaela Mabinty DePrince was one of the best Ballerinas of our generation and we are all feeling the weight of this massive loss. We love you Mabinty and we are so blessed to have witnessed both your artistry and your humanity. Thank you God for her time here amongst us!
Gymnastics, tennis, ice skating, ballet. I'm glad I lived to see these barriers come down. I'm almost 70. As someone who loved ballet, but knew/felt there was no place for me, I'm just glad I lived to see change. Now if there could just be love, good will and peace in our entire world.....I could go to my grave happy. Aaron & Michaela, wonderful performance! Good luck in your careers.
Michaela is now 20 years old and dancing with the prestigious Dutch National Ballet where she is a coryphee (demisoloist). She will be dancing the principal role of (adult) Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy in the company's production of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King on December 28 & December 31, 2015.
My friend and I were very lucky to register and be admitted to a masterclass given by Michaela DePrince in London a few years ago! Incredible dancer and class ⭐️🌈🙏🎶🥰😍
They are both fantastic. And have great chemistry tgt. I literally can't take my eyes off Aaron when he is doing the variation. Michaela captures the character of Kitri brilliantly. Lovely performance
BRAVO!!BRAVISSIMO!!! VIVA AARON SMYTH!!! I am puzzled as to why I have never heard of you!!! You are a fantastic Danseur with the most beautiful en dedans pirouettes since Vladimir Vasiliev. There's fantastic display here of clean academia training reminiscent of the Ballet Nacional de CUBA and in which 90% of the pas de deux which is based on the Alonso version. I look forward to experiencing your spirit in other posts!!!! LOVED this Kitri and the insouciance she brings to it. She needs work on the "Spotting", but she's world class. BRAVO!!!
Absolutely delightful. I remembered her from seeing "First Position" and am glad to see she's continued with Dutch National. Haven't seen Smyth before but holy cow! And I liked their energy together. Thx for posting!
They are fantastic together! Beautiful chemistry and synchronisation... hope they can dance together again! They both shine pure joy. Micheala's lines are just stunning and she is so effortless. She was born to dance.
Bless her parents for rescuing her from that horrible, loveless place, and for supporting and encouraging her dream of becoming a ballerina. Certainly Ms DePrince will only improve with age. Hopefully she will develop the "soft arms" necessary for expressive dancing.
Her arms may not be as expressive as they could be but they’re not anything some topnotch coaching couldn’t fix. Even Paloma Herrera’s arthritic arms were improved after the coaches at ABT worked ceaselessly and tirelessly on her.
It’s either the Cape Town audience are not used to watching ballet, or they’re being very polite. If these fabulous artists were performing in Cuba, the audience would be roaring and shrieking with approval from start to finish.
It is proper to be silent and take in every moment by watching intently, never making a sound until the very end only then making very loud noise with voices and applauses of great delight and satisfaction.
flawless! Perfect! I am very happy to see this video ... Just so we know the art of dancers as technical and fill our eyes with tears, with their stories through dance! The Michaela is a warrior, wonderful, Diva. And Aaron is a prince congratulated for there to give us this gift ... Congratulations!
She’s truly living her dream….your biological mom is looking down at you with all the angels….thank God for your adoptive parents….you are blessed….continue in HIS 😊grace❤
This is a stunning performance. I was awed and amazed by the virtuosity of their techniques the both of them. I saw Michaela DePrince in a documentary (not sure if it was First Position or not) but she was stunning and beautiful. What an accomplished dancer and her danseur is no slouch either - he is a fine dancer. I wish them both luck as they continue to grow and advance in this wonderful art.
People have a right to their opinions and to express them. It's silly to say if we don't dance we can't critique someone's performance. People should only be concerned with their own critique, not telling others what their critique should be.
Great job guys! Its great to see young people doing amazing things and spending their time perfecting what they are destine to do! Beautiful to the both of you guys!
Simply divine! Aaron your partnering skills are fantastic and your dancing is to die for! Your fuettes are stunning! I can watch this over and over...any chance you will be making a return to the States any time soon?
Gorgeous dancing! This isn’t my favorite ballet piece so I don’t watch it often, but I wanted to see Michaela dance in this role. She did a beautiful job, and so did you, Mr. Smyth! Your jumps are fabulous!
There is no doubt that Michaela has overcome incredible odds, and she dances beautifully. Two little critiques: 1) The fouettés should have been more stationary - she was a couple of feet off her original mark for this particular performance. 2) She could use a little work with her leg extensions and engaging her core strength. There were no drastic flaws, per se, but I noticed how she really clung to her partner’s hand before a release into a attitude or arabesque. She has beautiful legs, and I just really wanted to see her hold the poses by herself for a couple counts longer. Both dancers are formidable, and I expect to see them both performing more!!!
I too wanted to be a ballerina after I saw it the first time, that was 50 years ago, my mom said white people said it was not for us due to our make or build. We knew that was not the reason, it was because we were not wanted in that area of dance, hence born Alvin Ailey dancers, welcomed all over in other countries while being shunned here in its early days until certain supporters realized the great dis-service. Thank goodness the 60th anniversary was recently observed.
Oh WOW!!!! I just stumbled upon this GORGEOUS, STUNNING, AMAZING Don Q variation. This was sublime to watch... Seriously I've seen this done many times (I *LOVE* ballet!!) I found this because I was trying to see if there was anything relatively recent of Micheala dancing...and I saw this video (which I know is old, but it was new to me) and I'm so glad I clicked to watch this magical, exquisitely danced variation!! BRAVA!!! BRAVA!!!👏👏👏👏👏
BRAVA! (and bravo!) Michaela really is a FANTASTIC dancer. I'm not knocking Misty, because she is without a doubt one of the most important ballerinas of all time and her celebrity status has brought a lot of attention to the racism of ballet. I am very thankful for all Misty has done and continues to do...HOWEVER, if we're talking about (purely classical) cleanliness of technique, movement quality and above all consistency, Michaela takes the cake hands down. IMO, I think she is a much better dancer than Misty.
Eloquently beautiful. I wish the lighting or background was tad brighter her tutu blends with the stage back drop. My first time ever seeing Michaela. I came across a RU-vidr take photos In 10 minutes very fun running around striking poses
What a fabulous couple! Technically amazing--those jumps! Those balances! Her radiant smile. There's a certain "it" that some dancers have; it's hard to describe, but these two have it!
