Joshua Allen

Joshua Allen (born March 13, 1989)[1] is the winner of the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance. He had originally auditioned in Dallas, Texas with his friend and fellow contestant, Comfort Fedoke. Allen was announced winner of the show on August 7, 2008, winning $250,000.[2]

Early life

Allen was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He first started to dance in third grade, at the age of 8. One of his early influences was Michael Jackson, whom Allen emulated by doing the Moonwalk.[3] He also excelled at sports and played football and track.[3] After changing high schools, however, Allen decided to focus on his first love: dance.[3]

So You Think You Can Dance Season 4

On So You Think You Can Dance, he was paired up with Katee Shean, Courtney Galiano, Chelsie Hightower, and Stephen "tWitch" Boss. Along with Katee, he made the final four without an appearance in the Bottom 3 couples or Bottom 4 contestants.[2] While on the show Allen had done performances in hip-hop, broadway, samba, contemporary, west coast swing, Viennese Waltz, rumba, Argentine tango, disco, lyrical jazz, and jive. It should also be noted that Allen has done the first Bollywood dance and trepak of America's So You Think You Can Dance, with Katee and tWitch, respectively.

Allen was consistently praised for his innate ability to adapt to the diverse range of dance styles assigned to him throughout the season. There was also a belief that he had no prior formal training, but Allen has since clarified the issue and revealed that he had some previous training in several different dance styles including modern, ballet, and jazz.[4] On July 30, 2009, Allen returned, along with fellow Season 4 contestant Chelsie Hightower, to perform their Emmy nominated Argentine Tango, choreographed by Season 2 contestant Dmitry Chaplin.

Post-SYTYCD

As part of his prize for winning SYTYCD Season 4, Allen appeared as a featured dancer in Step Up 3D, along with fellow finalists Katee Shean and Stephen 'tWitch' Boss. He will also appear in the dance comedy Freak Dance. In 2010, Allen took part in Season 2 of Oxygen's Dance Your Ass Off as one of the show's pros. Allen was a featured dancer in the 2011 remake of the musical/movie Footloose. Allen's appeared in videos and commercials for Honda, McDonalds, US Census. Joshua has also been featured as a dancer on numerous TV shows, including Community and American Horror Story.

References

Preceded by
Sabra Johnson
Winner of So You Think You Can Dance
2008
Succeeded by
Jeanine Mason
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