Dancer Michaela DePrince for BRIGITTE magazine

Michaela DePrince grew up as an orphan in Sierra Leone during the brutal civil war. Inspired by a picture she found and kept as a child, she started training as a ballet dancer in the U.S. after being adopted by American parents. DePrince was one of the stars of the 2011 documentary film First Position, which followed six young dancers vying for a place in an elite ballet company or school, and she performed on the TV show Dancing with the Stars. In 2012, she graduated from the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis school in New York, and joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem as a dancer. Her amazing story was written by journalist Ulrike von Buelow for German BRIGITTE magazine, published in the current issue. More images of Michaela here