The “So You Think You Can Dance” community is grieving another loss. On Tuesday (Dec. 2), Donyelle Jones, the reality dance competition’s season two finalist, died after a long battle with breast cancer.
Her family announced the news on her Instagram account, “Today at 8:34 am, Donyelle Denise Wilson transitioned.”
“A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. And a warrior who kicked cancer’s ass every single day she was here,” they continued. “Her spirit never dimmed. Her heart never hardened. And even in the storm, she never lost her smile.”
The dancer’s death comes almost ten years after she was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in 2016. Since her diagnosis, Donyelle openly documented her journey on social media. Though her cancer progressed to stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, in July, she celebrated teaching her first dance class in four years.
“DANCE IS MY SAFE PLACE. I needed this moment.I need my community. Dance is the vehicle I’ve used most to help me live out my purpose, pursue my dreams, heal my pain and celebrate my victories. My bday gift to myself. It’s been four years since I last taught. GOD, I’VE MISSED THIS!!!,” she wrote at the time. “Cancer has robbed me of so much and I Iet the grief of losing what I had in dance or how it connected to my life take over the possibility of how it can show up in my life right now. I’m learning at every twist and turn of this journey called life how to navigate each season as they come.”
Just six days before her passing, the hip-hop and jazz dancer shares an emotional final message to her followers: “It has come to the point where I have started to get my affairs in order. Most of you guys know, at this point, I am in hospice. I have done everything possible to extend my time in this dimension, and at this point, I have surrendered to whatever God’s will may be. And if God’s will is that he heals my liver, which is not functioning and not making me able to eat, and I get that miraculous healing, and I’m audacious enough to believe that he can do it — but I’m also cognizant enough to know that I’ve received 10 years of miracles.”
“What else can I possibly ask for, but for his discernment on when it’s his time for me to have my time on this side come to an end?” she concluded.
Among the many fans grieving the loss of the “So You Think You Can Dance” season 2 third-place winner, is actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who penned a tribute to Doneyelle on Instagram: “My dear friend has gone on to be with the Lord. @donyelledenise8 was… no, IS the best of us. One of one. We love you, Donnie! Thank you for showing us how to live and fight and love and DANCE! We will see you on the other side. I will be the one dancing towards you. Me and my two left feet!”
Donyelle’s passing comes months after the unexpected passing of “So You Think You Can Dance” winner Joshua Allen after a fatal train accident. He was 36 years old.
