Chachi Gonzales

Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales

Chachi Gonzales in 2012
Born Olivia Irene Gonzales
January 23, 1996
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Residence Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Occupation Dancer, choreographer, actress
Years active 2011–present
Parent(s) David L. Gonzales
Guadalupe Gonzales
Family Dominique Gonzales (sister)
Chris Gonzales (brother)
Leslie Gonzales (sister)
David Gonzales (brother)
Website
Dotheadsbychachi.com

Olivia Irene Gonzales (born January 23, 1996), better known as Chachi Gonzales, is an American dancer, choreographer and occasional actress. She is a member of the dance crew I.aM.mE, which won the sixth season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2011.[1][2]

Life and career

Olivia Irene "Chachi" Gonzales was born in Houston, Texas. She is of Hispanic descent. At the age of 6, Gonzales enrolled at a local dance studio and was trained as a ballet dancer. Three years later at the age of 9, she witnessed for the first time a hip hop dance crew at a dance event she attended. Coincidentally, one of the crews there was Marvelous Motion, whose members (Phillip Chbeeb, Di Zhang and Brandon Harrell) were to become her fellow crew members in I.aM.mE, the dance crew she later joined. Upon learning of this new dance style, Gonzales became instantly hooked and decided to take up hip hop dancing from then on. She then enrolled at Lanier Middle School where hip hop was one of the styles taught. Very shy at first, months of hard training passed with Gonzales honing and developing her skills, when she was eventually asked by her dance instructor, – impressed and with so much confidence in Gonzales – to lead the group she was being taught in. Shortly after, her mother located the Marvelous Motion Studios and enrolled her in a few classes. From then on, Gonzales continued to dance as much as possible almost everyday, thus becoming a true passion.

In 2010, after the disbandment of Marvelous Motion, the three members Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb, Di "Moon" Zhang and Brandon "747" Harrell held an audition to create a brand new crew. Added to the lineup were the three new members, Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales, Emilio "Millie" Dosal, and Jana "Jaja" Vaňková, forming I.aM.mE,[3] in preparation for America's Best Dance Crew: Season of the Superstars. Gonzales is the youngest member of I.aM.mE.

America's Best Dance Crew

Further information: I.aM.mE § ABDC Season 6

Workshops and tours

As well as in the US, throughout 2011–present, Gonzales has taught many dance classes and workshops in various other countries around the world, sometimes together with other members of I.aM.mE. Countries she taught classes in were the Philippines, Belgium, Russia, the UK, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Thailand and India.

Personal life

"Chachi" is the nickname given to Gonzales by her family when she was younger. It is short for "muchachita", which means "little girl" in Spanish.

In 2011, Gonzales and her family created a brand of apparel and sweatpants.

Her own clothing line, Dotheads By Chachi, was released in January 2014.[4]

Awards and appearances

Gonzales was one of the backup dancers for the Tribute to Britney Spears as part of the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, and she was named "Teen Choreographer of the Year" at the World of Dance 2012 Industry Awards.[5] She made a dance appearance with I.aM.mE in the Disney TV programme, Shake It Up.[6][7]

In June 2013, she choreographed the dance to the second theme song of the fashion doll franchise Monster High, in "We Are Monster High".[8]

She is to take the lead role in the upcoming 2014 feature film The Legend of DarkHorse County, directed by Shawn Welling.[9][10][11][12][13]

Gonzales is currently one of the cast in the second season of teen drama East Los High which commenced on July 7, 2014.[14]

Music videos

Gonzales has appeared in several music videos:

References

  1. ↑ "America’s Best Dance Crew Season 6: Finale Recap : RealityWanted.com: Reality TV, Game Show, Talk Show, News – All Things Unscripted Social Network Casting Community". RealityWanted.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ Sorich, Sonya (June 5, 2011). "ABDC Season 6 winner: I Am Me wins America's Best Dance Crew 2011 | Television | Columbus Ledger Enquirer". Ledger-enquirer.com. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  3. ↑ "World of Dance". World of Dance. March 19, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "WOD 2012 Industry Awards: Teen Choreographer of the Year – Chachi Gonzales". Worldofdance.com. September 6, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ ""Shake It Up!" Wrestle It Up (TV episode 2012) – IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales | DanceMedia, LLC". Dancespirit.com. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  8. ↑ "We Are Monster High® Dance Tutorial with Chachi Gonzales". YouTube. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  9. ↑ The Legend of DarkHorse County (2014) – IMDb
  10. ↑ "Shawn Welling Presents: A Double Film Screening of DarkHorse & The Messenger". DancersGlobal. April 5, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  11. ↑ "WellingFilms.com – Local Business – Houston, TX". Facebook. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  12. ↑ Angel Alzona (January 27, 2012). "Friday Feature – Chachi: DarkHorse". Art Room Collective. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  13. ↑ "AXI 5 (Full Feature): The Legend of Dark Horse County". Facebook. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Chachi Gonzales Joins the cast of Hulu's East Los High Soap". soaps.about.com. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Adam Irigoyen – School Girl". YouTube. November 11, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  16. ↑
  17. ↑

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chachi Gonzales.