The So You Think You Can Dance family is mourning the loss of Donyelle Jones. The dancer’s demise was shared via Instagram on Tuesday, December 2.
So You Think You Can Dance Alum Donyelle Jones Passes Away
On Tuesday, December 2, So You Think You Can Dance alum Jones’ demise was announced on her Instagram. Unfortunately, the dancer passed away after her long run with breast cancer.
“Today at 8:34am, Donyelle Denise Wilson, transitioned. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. And a warrior who kicked cancer’s a** every single day she was here,” the Instagram post read.
Nearly a decade ago, Jones was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer. Despite treatments, her breast cancer progressed to stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
A week before Jones’ death, she was open about being in hospice and preparing for death. In the candid video, Jones said “I have done everything possible to extend my time here in this dimension. At this point I have surrendered to whatever God’s will is.”
Her Journey on The Show
During So You Think You Can Dance Season two, Jones took the stage, performing a Hip-Hop dance with Benji Schwimmer. She went on to continue performing with Schwimmer until week 6 when her partner switched to Dmitry Chaplin, then Travis Wall in week 7. She later returned to dancing with Schwimmer for the rest of the competition.
As a solo dancer, Jones performed in weeks 6 through 8 in Hip-Hop and Broadway dance styles. At the end of the competition, Jones finished the competition out in third place behind Wall and Schwimmer.
Schwimmer paid tribute to Jones following her death. He shared a video of them dancing together on the competition show as well as a video of him speaking of her impact on the world.
“Dancing with you was always a dream…” he wrote.
Within the video, he said that their partnership was “like a marriage, but in some ways closer.”
