Joshua Allen (born March 13, 1989) is an American dancer and actor, best known as the winner of the fourth season of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

''. He had originally auditioned in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

with his friend and fellow contestant, Comfort Fedoke. Allen was announced winner of the show on August 7, 2008, winning $250,000.

Early life

Allen was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. 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. He also excelled at sports and played football and track. After changing high schools, however, Allen decided to focus on his first love: dance.

''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. While on the show, Allen did performances in hip-hop, broadway, samba, contemporary, west coast swing,

Viennese Waltz Viennese waltz (german: Wiener Walzer) is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in b ...

, rumba, Argentine tango, disco, lyrical jazz, and jive. Allen performed the first

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

dance and trepak of America's ''So You Think You Can Dance'', with Katee and tWitch, respectively. Allen had some training in different dance styles, including modern, ballet, and jazz. On July 30, 2009, Allen returned, along with fellow Season 4 contestant Chelsie Hightower, to perform their Emmy nominated

Argentine Tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

, choreographed by Season 2 contestant

Dmitry Chaplin Dmitry Chaplin ( ''Dmitry Alexandrovich Chaplin'') is a Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor, best known for being a Top 10 finalist on the second season of the dance competition series ''So You Think You Can Dance''. While competing on the ...

Post-''SYTYCD''

As part of his prize for winning ''SYTYCD''

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

, Allen appeared as a featured dancer in ''

Step Up 3D ''Step Up 3D'' (also known as ''Step Up 3'') is a 2010 American 3D dance film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer. It serves as a sequel to 2008's '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' and the third installment in the ''St ...

'', along with fellow finalists Katee Shean and Stephen 'tWitch' Boss. He also appeared in the dance comedy ''Freak Dance''. In 2010, Allen took part in Season 2 of Oxygen's ''

Dance Your Ass Off ''Dance Your Ass Off'' (also rendered in a censored form as ''Dance Your A** Off'' for broadcast television mentions and promotions) is a reality competition series on the Oxygen Network hosted by Marissa Jaret Winokur in the first season, then ...

'' as one of the show's pros. Allen was a featured dancer in the 2011 remake of the musical/movie ''

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

''. Allen has appeared in videos and commercials for

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

, and the US Census. Joshua has also been featured as a dancer on numerous TV shows, including ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'' and ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

''. In July 2016, Allen was indicted for felony assault of his girlfriend and assault with a deadly weapon. Prior to this time, he had been charged with multiple misdemeanor domestic violence counts. He pleaded "no contest" to the charges and was sentenced in August 2017 to one year in county jail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Joshua So You Think You Can Dance winners Living people 1989 births African-American male dancers African-American dancers American male dancers People from Fort Worth, Texas So You Think You Can Dance (American TV series) contestants 21st-century American dancers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people