Allison Holker Is Dancing Through the Ups and Downs

When dealing with overwhelming emotions, dancers often want to move — to work it all out physically. It makes sense: If you’ve spent your life learning to speak with your body, other forms of communication begin to seem incomplete.

The dancer and choreographer Allison Holker always felt that way. “Dance was the place where I could find a pocket of joy,” she said in an interview, “or express myself, or learn about myself.”

It also formed the foundation of her relationship with Stephen Boss, known as Twitch. The two met through the reality television series “So You Think You Can Dance,” married in 2013 and built a family: Boss adopted Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship, and they had two more children together.

Dance defined their lives and livelihoods. Boss became the DJ and an executive producer for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”; Holker appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.” They supported and mentored other dance artists, with Boss especially becoming known for the scope and depth of his kindness. In the choreographed duets they frequently posted for their large social media followings, they embodied harmony, generosity and trust.

“For us, dance was this love language, which not many people get to experience,” Holker said. “We could really understand each other through our movement.”

Then, in December 2022, Boss died at age 40 in what was ruled a suicide. The news, so at odds with the joy he’d radiated on and offstage, came as a shock to those who knew or just knew of Boss.