LOS ANGELES – Sierra Leonean ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who starred on the television show “Dancing with the Stars” and in Beyonce’s music video album “Lemonade,” died Friday at age 29, her family said.

The news of her death was announced on her personal Instagram page and subsequently confirmed by her family in a joint statement on Facebook.

No cause of death was given.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our wonderful sister, Michaela Mabinty DePrince. Michaela touched so many lives around the world, including ours. She was an unforgettable inspiration to all who knew her or heard her story,” her family said in their statement.

Several members of the ballet community mourned DePrince, including American ballerina Misty Copeland, who posted a video of DePrince dancing on social media along with an excerpt about DePrince from Copeland’s book, Black Ballerinas.

“Despite being told ‘the world is not ready for black ballerinas’ or ‘black ballerinas are not worth investing in,’ she remained determined and focused and began to make great progress,” Copeland wrote.

DePrince was born Mabinty Bangura on January 6, 1995, in Kenema, Sierra Leone, and was taken to an orphanage by her uncle at the age of three during the civil war.

In her 2014 book, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, she described how she was isolated from other children because of her skin pigmentation, vitiligo, and how she suffered from malnutrition.

She was adopted in 1999 at the age of four by the New Jersey couple Elaine and Charles DePrince, who enrolled her in ballet lessons. At the age of 14, DePrince received a scholarship to study ballet at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

She rose to fame after starring in the 2011 documentary First Position and has performed all over the world, serving as second soloist with the acclaimed Boston Ballet and as a motivational speaker.