On His Training

This is a topic that I want to address and get answered once and for all. Was he or wasn't he trained that is? Throughout the show Joshua was touted by the judges as a hip hop, untrained dancer. Untrained vs. trained can be a matter of semantics and the judges made the distinction from their expert perspective. As Mia Michaels said, "the kid is raw," still, Joshua took a lot of unfair criticism over this issue. Many thought he did have years of training that was being misconstrued. Sadly, it made Joshua look less than honest. I asked Joshua to explain to me in his own words his background in dance and his kinda trained but not really all that trained experience. He was eager to set the record straight.

"Let's be real. Let's not be stupid to the fact that, yeah, I took classes when I could. I kept saying that. It was always stop and start. It wasn't sustained like William or Mark. Since I was an athlete, I took classes in the summer. We didn't have a lot of money so there were times when I would trade chores for class time. I took modern. I took ballet. I took some jazz classes. Debbie Allen has a dance institution in Texas that I attended, and I got a month scholarship for her school in L.A. for intense dance from about age 10 on. That was only for one month and that month was like a getaway. Ms. Allen was such an inspiration to me and I looked up to her. I always wanted to be chosen for her year's program to live there. I almost begged for it, but I didn't get it. I was back home crying. I would just go in my room and cry. I would ask myself, Am I doing this for no reason? Am I going to be 20 or 21 and still not make it and living in my mom's house?'  I was hard on myself. I felt like I should have been in the industry singing at the age of 15 or 16. I would pray every night just for a chance. This was my prayer, 'God please just give me the opportunity, a chance, to show the world what I can do.' Right before the round in Vegas I took a bunch of classes because I didn't want to show up and not know anything. Not knowing all the terminology, I would never go first. I would always watch and catch on that way. If you tell me to do a certain combination I might not know what it is. If you show me, then I can do it. Danny and Travis and William and Marquis are technically trained. I'm not like them and didn't have that kind of on-going training. Me, Will, and Twitch had a talk, not an argument but a good talk. Will feels that we really are trained because we stand in the mirror and we study our bodies enough to where we're trained. Whereas, Twitch says we aren't because we're not told where to put our bodies or where to put our leg at and all the techniques and phrasing dancers in class are taught.

So what they said, that I was untrained, I never hid that I was. I did know certain stuff and different styles, but it wasn't the same or sustained as most of the others on the show."

On No Air (The signature dance of Joshua and Katee)

One cannot write about Season 4 of SYTYCD without discussing the Joshua/Katee master performance of No Air. Considered a lyrical hip hop piece, it was the brain child of the husband/wife team of Napoleon and Tabitha, also known as NappyTabs. The perfect combination of music, lyrics, choreography, subject material, costume, and artistry, No Air, sung by Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown, will go down in history on the show as one of the all-time favorite dances danced by one of the all-time favorite couples. This was their first dance and their first time being on the stage performing together. With Joshua's help and Katee's drive to learn, together, they hit every nuance, every beat, every movement, with effortless and exact precision. Everything worked. Everything was in perfect sync, perfect harmony. It was magic. They were brilliant. The success of this number set the tone for the pair for the season and went on to be a benchmark for excellence. The innocence of the 'going off to war story-line' was captured so beautifully by the newly paired pair. The shirt exchange at the end of the number became their signature move. No Air was the last couple performance danced on tour and always evoked such emotional response from the devoted fans. NappyTabs could never have anticipated the impact this dance would have on the show for all-time. Of all Joshua's numbers, and I adore many of them, No Air will always be my #1.

On the Tour  

 Having never been anywhere to speak of outside of Fort Worth, Texas the tour was major for Joshua. The 40-some city stops spanning from Tacoma, WA to Tampa, FL were as rewarding as they were exhausting. Being the winner and part of the favorite pairing of the season, it could have easily been called the 'Joshua Allen and Friends' tour. Between group numbers, paired routines, and his solo, Joshua found himself included in 15 of the numbers each night. Not until an unfortunate slip and fall, resulting in Katee being sidelined, did the schedule of dances change and new dances were added. The mishap took place in the worst of all places, in front of his hometown crowd, and it forced a juggling among the dancers to accommodate Katee's injury. Being the consummate warriors, Joshua and Katee did whatever it took to make the show go on and still be enjoyable for the paying fans. Thankfully, it wasn't too long before Katee's condition improved, and they were able to once again shine. Joshua recalls snippets of his time on tour with fondness and appreciation.

"When we first started the tour I would get teased and I knew when I won the show I'd have to get an ever thicker skin because I had to go on tour with the people I just beat.

You don't want to say it but it was kinda like my tour in a way. It was all of our tour but because I was the winner it was my tour. But, I was like, 'we're family.' I don't hide my emotions, and I'm so real I can't hide how I feel so it showed. Sometimes I can be sensitive. We had captains on tour that we voted on, Katee and Twitch were chosen, the function being to keep everybody in line and on their game. I had to get pulled out of some numbers because of my knee and that was hard. Gev was my roommate. I think he was so, so underrated on the show. Gev's so talented. Jeff Thacker was in charge of the tour and we became so close, he's my godfather now. The whole experience was amazing."

On his Diet and Exercise Regimen

Being a dancer and an athlete you might think Joshua has some special diet or strict regime in order to maintain his look and his stamina. Well, he doesn't. Blessed with a combination of youth, great genes, and an active life full of dance---with some regular exercise sprinkled in---keeps Joshua in relatively great shape. When he has to get cut, he can. If he has to get big, he can. He's naturally gifted in those facets of his life, but he is looking to become more educated on the topic of nutrition so he has a long and fruitful career ahead.

"I tried to take some supplements like Mark showed me on the tour but it didn't last. Because I'm out here in L.A. and it's the first time being out on my own, I don't have a really good, perfect diet.  I do eat fast food. (laughs) My mom always cooked. I cook breakfast and stuff and I go to nice restaurants and eat good food.  I don't know how to cook perfectly. I do have this drink that I take every morning with all your vitamins. Lately, I'm eating lots of salads and working out in the morning. I'll go for a run for like 20 or 25 minutes, and do sit ups, and swim, but I can eat whatever I want right now. Then, I go to dance class and sweat. It's really an intense workout.  I've cut back on sweets, no ice cream in my freezer. I don't lift weights because I can get big so fast---really big, really fast. It's ridiculous. I try to do everything with bodyweight just to keep me cut up."

On the 4-finger shoulder sign otherwise known as IV REAL

Early on in the season the audience noticed a few of the dancers began making this funny symbol putting 4 fingers up on their shoulder and saying 4Real, 4Real. Suddenly, the message boards were all abuzz. Most reactionary speculators thought it was some silly inside deal among the "black block" of dancers since they didn't see any of the others making the gesture. As the season progressed, so, too, did the instance of IV REAL signs being offered up by Will and Twitch and Comfort and Joshua. Eventually, even Nigel and Mary and Cat got in on the gesture. Before it was over, everybody was curling 4 fingers on their shoulder and chanting the slogan. As it turns out, the IV REAL symbol evolved into something much bigger than any of the dancers could have envisioned and from its innocuous beginnings, took on a life of its own. Joshua explains:

"Energy, focus, talent, and togetherness: that's what the 4 fingers in IV REAL stand for. We all joked around with the expression for a while. We'd say 'Man, we're Season 4, we're so FOR REAL (Season 4=IV=FOR REAL) or this number is hard 4 real, but I'm going to do this boy.  I'm gonna end up coming out on top 4 real. Somethin', somethin', somethin', 4 real.' I remember me and Twitch and Gev were joking and Gev ran and flipped off my back and Twitch was like, aaaaa, that's so 4 real. We were looking for a way to grab the viewer's attention to what we were about. Will had shirts made up with the IV REAL sign on the front but we only got 4. It kinda took off from there. It means a lot of things. It was the definition of Season 4 for us.  It became our sign and our slogan, it grew and grew and grew. Me, Twitch, Will, Comfort, Jessica, Chelsea T, Courtney, and Kherington got a IV REAL tattoo when it was over. It was that important to us."

On the future . . .

So much has happened to Joshua since his win. Getting to travel the country and tour with his dance family was one of his all time highlights. Since then, he has left his home in Texas and settled into an apartment that he loves in Los Angeles. There he hopes to keep his dream alive as he weighs his offers while moving ever forward. Many of his friends from the show are there in L.A. also, giving him a base of familiar faces to look to and draw from whether the going is rough or just right. He's on his own but not alone. Joshua stays grounded by keeping his Fort Worth roots close at hand, as well. Pastor Johnny Castleberry remains in touch on a regular basis, a true blessing in his life.

The humble, shy, unassuming guy with the big dimples and bright smile that lights up the sky each time he steps on the stage is on his way. He won the whole enchilada and proudly wears the title of America's Favorite Dancer.

Winning the show was a magical feat that is almost impossible to adequately explain. It is so remarkable from so many vantage points for so many reasons. Yet, winning, as fabulous as that is, is only the beginning. With determination, good choices, good friends, and a little bit of luck, Joshua can go on to even greater heights. He doesn't want to be known only as that guy who won Season 4 of SYTYCD. He doesn't want to be known only as a one-trick hip hop popper who happened to win dancing's lottery.  He doesn't want to get lost.

The camera loves him, and he loves being in front of the camera. Already, he is spreading his good-will and hip hop skills in performing and teaching master dance classes and workshops. He is slated for a role in Adam Shankman's movie Step Up 3-D, and acting is high on his wanna-do list. Hooking up with his good buddy Twitch for a sit-com or reality show would be an opportunity he would welcome.

Ultimately, he sees himself as an entertainer, a guy who wants to dance and sing and own his own recording studio. Stars like Omarion or Usher fit the mold he'd love to emulate. And, of course, there's Michael Jackson. The megastar who inspired him from a little boy is always there at the forefront of his goals. Someday, before he dies-- he would love to meet his idol and, who knows, maybe even sing or dance or just talk with him. That would make his life!

So You Think You Can Dance is a question Joshua has answered. The engraved dog tag (a Tiffany memento from producer Nigel Lythgoe) that he proudly wears around his neck signifies, "Joshua, I know you can dance." He knows he can dance. We know he can dance. Everyone now knows he can dance. But it's so much more. He's so much more. I went to see Joshua because I saw something in him beyond his dancing. I was hoping that he would turn out to be the person who I had imagined. I can honestly tell you, he was all that and more. He embodies the American dream in action and shows kids, and adults, too, that miracles do come true. This diamond in the rough has the flair and the talent and the heart and the soul and all the right stuff to take his career wherever he chooses. He might have won the show, and that's a big deal, but he's so much more than dancing. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what's coming next. It should be an interesting ride!

Pz is a motivational writer and coach who specializes in the area of relationships and the human condition. Her book Club Shattered: the fast track back from a broken relationship is available. Go to www.pzpower.com

Have questions or feedback? Pz wants to hear from you: pz@pzpower.com

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