Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer Michaela DePrince is making her mark in the industry after Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights to adapt her memoir Taking Flight into a feature film in March 2015.

The book tells of DePrince's childhood, growing up as an orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone before she was adopted by an American couple and began lessons to fulfil her dream of becoming a professional dancer. She featured in the 2012 documentary First Position, and has been named among Huffington Post's Most Amazing Young People of the Year and Newsweek's 125 Women of Impact. Currently performing with The Dutch National Ballet, DePrince also has her sights set on being involved in charity work having spoken at the United Nations for children affected by war and the Women in the World conference.