When Michaela DePrince was living in an orphanage during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the late 1990s, death was all around her: Her parents were gone, her uncle had abandoned her, and she witnessed the murder of her teacher.

Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came to the United States from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone and performed on some of the world's biggest stages, has died, her family said in a statement. She was 29.

Michaela Mabinty DePrince, the ballerina born during a civil war in Sierra Leone who performed in Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ music video died at 29 according to an announcement posted to her official Instagram page on Friday.