Pasquale La Rocca

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Pasquale La Rocca
Pasquale La Rocca - Wiki - 2025.jpg
Born (1989-06-24) 24 June 1989 (age 36)
Naples, Italy
Occupation(s) Dancer
Choreographer
Years active15
Known for Dancing with the Stars Belgium
Dancing with the Stars Ireland
Ballando con le Stelle
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)

Pasquale La Rocca is an Italian professional dancer and choreographer. He is best known for his performances on Burn the Floor, Strictly Come Dancing , and Dancing with the Stars , where he achieved a record five consecutive wins across the franchise.

Contents

Early life

La Rocca was born in Naples, Italy, and began dancing at a young age. He trained in multiple styles before focusing on Ballroom and Latin. He went on to become Italian Champion and World Finalist in the Under 21 category.

Competitive Dance Career

In 2014, Pasquale La Rocca joined the Broadway production Burn the Floor, touring internationally across London’s West End, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and China. [1] During this period, he rose to the positions of principal dancer, dance captain, and assistant choreographer.

In 2017, he performed as principal dancer alongside Flavia Cacace in the Tango Moderno tour. [2]

In 2018, he appeared on the Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool Special, and in the years that followed he continued to feature in several Strictly Come Dancing specials.

In 2019, he joined Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, and Chloe Hewitt on their Here Come the Girls UK tour, and the same year made his debut as a professional on Dancing with the Stars Belgium, where he secured his first victory on the show. [3]

In 2020, he continued his winning streak, joining Dancing with the Stars Ireland and once again taking home the trophy.

In 2022, Pasquale enjoyed one of the most significant years of his career: he returned to DWTS Ireland for another victorious season, achieved a Guinness World Record with Strictly star Dianne Buswell [4] , and reunited with Burn the Floor for its 25th Anniversary Tour [5] , performing in a limited UK season alongside Strictly Come Dancing professionals, which closed with a celebrated run in London’s West End. That same year, he was invited as a guest choreographer on ITV’s The Masked Dancer and joined Italy’s Ballando con le Stelle [6] , where he quickly became a fan favourite.

In 2023 and 2024, Pasquale starred as principal dancer and dance captain in Giovanni Pernice’s UK shows, [7] further cementing his place as one of the most versatile and charismatic performers on the international dance scene

Television career

La Rocca first appeared on television with Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) [8] . He later joined Dancing with the Stars , [9] where he made history by winning five consecutive seasons across Belgium, Ireland, and Italy—the longest winning streak in the franchise’s history.

In Italy, he became a professional dancer on Ballando con le Stelle , the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing. Over three consecutive seasons, he won two and finished runner-up in the third.

Dancing with the Stars

Belgium

In September 2019, La Rocca joined the cast of the second series of the second incarnation (seventh overall) of the Belgian version of Dancing with the Stars . [10] [11] He was partnered with influencer, Julie Vermeire. [12] On 10 November 2019, Vermeire and La Rocca won the series. [13]

SeriesPartnerPlace
7Julie Vermeire1st

Performances with Julie Vermeire

Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult
BrocatusLouwyckLeunisKooijman
1Samba / "Shape of You"776626No elimination
2 Tango / "Copycat"787830Safe
3 Freestyle / "Counting Stars"787830Safe
4 Rumba / "Read All About It, Pt. III"897832Safe
5 Salsa / "Súbeme la Radio"
Jive Marathon / "Faith"
8
Awarded
9
12
9
extra
9
points
35
47
Safe
6 Modern / "Bad Guy"9981036Safe
7 Quickstep / "Puttin' On the Ritz"
Cha-Cha-Cha / "El Anillo"
9
8
9
9
10
9
10
9
38
35
Safe
8 Jive / "Dance with Me Tonight"
Freestyle / "Instruction"
Freestyle / "Counting Stars"
9
10
No
9
10
scores
8
10
were
9
10
awarded
35
40
-
Winners

Ireland

On 12 November 2019, just two days after he won the Belgian version, it was confirmed that La Rocca would be joining the cast of the fourth series of the Irish version of the show as a professional dancer. [14] [15] [16] He partnered radio broadcaster, Lottie Ryan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the series was cut short by one week. On 15 March 2020, Ryan and La Rocca won the series. [17]
During the fifth series of the show, La Rocca partnered former jockey, Nina Carberry. On 27 March 2022, Carberry and La Rocca won the series, making this his second consecutive win on the show and third of the worldwide franchise. [18] On 24 November 2022, due to scheduling conflicts resulting from his participation in the Italian series, La Rocca announced that he was not returning for the sixth series in 2023. [19]

SeriesPartnerPlace
4 Lottie Ryan 1st
5 Nina Carberry 1st

Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

Performances with Lottie Ryan

Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult
RedmondBarryBenson
1 Jive / "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"77721No elimination
2 Contemporary Ballroom / "Castles"88925Safe
3 Salsa / "Dora The Explorer Theme"991028Safe
4 Tango / "Radio"87823Safe
5 Charleston / "Woman Up"88925No elimination
6 Viennese Waltz / "One of a Kind"991028Safe
7 American Smooth / "Big Spender"9101029Bottom two
8 Samba / "Tip Toe"
Team Dance / "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)"
9
9
10
9
10
9
29
27
Safe
9 Paso Doble / "Theme from Mission: Impossible"
Rock-Til-You-Drop / "Happy Days"
9
Awarded
9
5
10
points
28
33
Bottom two
10 Quickstep / "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
Cha-Cha-Cha (with Ryan McShane) / "Turn Me On"
10
10
10
10
10
10
30
30
Winners

Performances with Nina Carberry

Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult
RedmondBarryGourounlian
1 Quickstep / "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"66719No elimination
2 Rumba / "Starlight"88925Safe
3 Tango / "Elevation (Tomb Raider mix)"66719Safe
4 Cha-cha-cha / "If the World Just Danced"77721Safe
5 Salsa / "Starships"88824No elimination
6 Viennese Waltz / "At Last"10101030Safe
7 Charleston / "Doop"10101030Safe
8 Jive / "Faith"89926Safe
9 American Smooth / "A Foggy Day (in London Town)"
Team Dance / "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
9
9
10
10
10
10
29
29
Safe
10 Paso Doble / "Get Ready"
Bust-a-Move Marathon / "I'm So Excited"
10
Awarded
10
4
10
points
30
34
Safe
11 Viennese Waltz / "At Last"
Showdance / "If My Friends Could See Me Now"
10
9
10
10
10
10
30
29
Winners

Italy

On 3 September 2022, La Rocca announced via Instagram that he would be joining the Italian version of the show, Ballando con le Stelle for its seventeenth season as a professional dancer. [20] He partnered journalist, Luisella Costamagna. [21] In the second week of the competition Costamagna suffered an injury to her knee, this negatively affected the couple's performances forcing her to sit and move very little throughout most of them. This caused controversy, with many viewers questioning whether or not Costamagna and La Rocca should have remained in the competition when Costamagna was not physically able to dance. Judge, Selvaggia Lucarelli was particularly vocal with her opinions stating that she felt the couple should have bowed out gracefully and scored them 'zero' three weeks in a row. [22] At the beginning of the sixth live show, Costamagna and La Rocca announced their decision to withdraw from the competition as Costamagna's injury had not healed sufficiently enough to continue. [23] They were the third couple to leave the competition. Costamagna and La Rocca returned in the tenth week of the season to compete in the 'Repechage' - which saw five couples who had the competition return to dance again to win back a place in the following week's grand finale. Costamagna and La Rocca won the public vote and were, therefore, made finalists. [24] On 23 December 2022, Costamagna and La Rocca were voted winners of the series, giving La Rocca his fourth consecutive win in a row - continuing his undefeated streak. [25]

SeriesPartnerPlace
17 Luisella Costamagna 1st
18 Wanda Nara 1st
19 Nina Zilli 12th
Federica Pellegrini 2nd

Performances with Luisella Costamagna

Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreBonus
points
TotalResult
ZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto
1 Tango / "Beggin'"889710-42No elimination
2 Modern / "Ricordati di me"89767-37Safe
3 Waltz / "Il Mondo"56200-13No elimination
4 Bachata / "Killing Me Softly with His Song"555010-25
5 Showdance / "All That Jazz"910100102564Safe
6No dance performed-------Withdrew
7Did not compete-------N/A
8-------
9-------
10 Paso Doble / "Survivor"
Freestyle / "Trouble"
10
Won
10
majority
10
of
9
public
10
vote
30
-
79
62%
Won Repechage
11 Argentine Tango / "Codigo de Barra"
Paso Doble / "Survivor"
Showdance / "All That Jazz"
Swing / "Trouble"
Bachata / "Killing Me Softly with His Song"
Waltz / "Il Mondo"
10
Won
Finished
No
No
Winners
10
the
in
scores
scores
of
10
knockout
the
were
were
the
7
challenge
top
awarded
awarded
final
10
dance
two
here
here
vote
-
-
-
-
-
-
47
51%
35.7%
-
-
57%
Winners

Performances with Wanda Nara

Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreBonus
points
TotalResult
ZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto
1 Rumba / "Caruso"108889-43No elimination
2 Samba / "Magalenha"1010101010-50Safe
3 Paso Doble / "Believer"101097101056Safe
4 Waltz / "Unchained melody"10101089-47Safe
5 Salsa / "Despacito"101010109-49Safe
6 Charleston / "Do Your Thing"1010101010858Safe
7 Showdance / "I Put a Spell on You"1010109103786Safe
8 Bachata / "Déjà vu"910998853Safe
9 Modern / "La vita splendida"10101010103585Safe
10 Argentine Tango / "Por una cabeza/la cumparsita"
Paso Doble / "Believer"
Samba / "Magalenha"
Salsa / "Despacito"
Charleston / "Do Your Thing"
Waltz / "Unchained melody"
Paso Doble / "Believer"
10
No
Finished
No
No
No
Winners
10
scores
in
scores
scores
scores
of
10
were
the
were
were
were
the
10
awarded
top
awarded
awarded
awarded
final
10
here
two
here
here
here
vote
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
50
-
67%
-
-
-
70%
Winners

Choreography

As a choreographer, La Rocca has worked on television productions including The Masked Dancer (ITV). He also collaborated on the 20th anniversary of Strictly Come Dancing , assisting Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore on professional routines.

References

  1. "Pasquale La Rocca Interview for Performers Stuff Pro Series: Dancing with the Stars". PerformerStuff More Good Stuff. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  2. Kennedy, Vivienne (13 September 2017). "Bristol Hippodrome theatre review: Tango Moderno". Weston-super-Mum. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. "Exclusive: Strictly star Dianne Buswell reveals Joe Sugg will be keeping her company as she embarks on Here Come the Girls tour". HELLO!. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. "Farthest distance danced by a couple". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. "CAST". BURN THE FLOOR presents DIANNE & VITO. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  6. "'Ballando con le stelle', chi è Pasquale La Rocca, il ballerino dei record che ha vinto con Wanda Nara". la Repubblica (in Italian). 24 December 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  7. Pernice, Ingolf; Celeste, Edoardo; Keller, Clara Iglesias (16 December 2019). "Interview with Professor Ingolf Pernice | Entrevista com o Professor Ingolf Pernice". Revista Publicum. 5 (2): 1–6. doi:10.12957/publicum.2019.47243. ISSN   2447-7982.
  8. Hallam, Katy (11 April 2025). "Meet new Strictly star being 'lined up to replace Giovanni'". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  9. "Pasquale makes DWTS history with third successive win". 27 March 2022.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Julie Vermeire repeteert voor het eerst met haar Italiaanse dansleraar: "Ik ben blij dat hij mij leidt en niet omgekeerd"". www.nieuwsblad.be (in Flemish). 13 August 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. "Pasquale La Rocca | VIER". www.vier.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  12. "Jacques Vermeire steunt zijn dochter tijdens 'Dancing with the Stars': "We hebben drie heel goede dansers en een vierde die heel sympathiek overkomt"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. "Julie Vermeire wint 'Dancing with the stars'". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Flemish). 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  14. "Dancing with the Stars reveals new pro dancers after Curtis Pritchard's exit". RTE. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  15. Gallagher, Katie (14 November 2019). "Dancing With The Stars changes as four professional dancers to be swapped out". irishmirror. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  16. Townsend, Michelle (13 November 2019). "Pictures: Dancing With The Stars Ireland professionals 2020". rsvp. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  17. "Lottie Ryan and partner Pasquale win Dancing with the Stars". www.irishexaminer.com. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  18. "Pasquale makes DWTS history with third successive win". RTE. 27 March 2022.
  19. "Dancing With The Stars Two-Time Champion Pasquale La Rocca's Shock Move Confirmed". 24 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  20. News, Blasting, Ballando con le Stelle: nel cast anche Pasquale La Rocca (in Italian), retrieved 3 September 2022{{citation}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  21. "Ballando con le stelle 2022: i torinesi Garko e Costamagna e la cuneese Barale pronti a scatenarsi nella nuova edizione". TorinoToday (in Italian). Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  22. "LUISELLA COSTAMAGNA E PASQUALE LA ROCCA, BALLANDO CON LE STELLE/ Lucarelli da zero, caos in studio!". IlSussidiario.net (in Italian). 5 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  23. "Luisella Costamagna retires from Dancing with the stars: To heal I have to stop". Italy 24 Press News. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  24. Redazione (18 December 2022). "Ballando con le stelle ripescati Luisella Costamagna e Pasquale La Rocca". TAG24 (in Italian). Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  25. Online, Redazione (24 December 2022). "Ballando con le Stelle, la coppia Luisella Costamagna-Pasquale La Rocca vince l'edizione 2022". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2022.