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.
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. 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.
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.
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, and reunited with Burn the Floor for its 25th Anniversary Tour, 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, 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.
Television career La Rocca first appeared on television with Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One). He later joined Dancing with the Stars, 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. He was partnered with influencer, Julie Vermeire. On 10 November 2019, Vermeire and La Rocca won the series. SeriesPartnerPlace7Julie Vermeire1st
Performances with Julie Vermeire Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResultBrocatusLouwyckLeunisKooijman1Samba / "Shape of You" 7 7 66 26No elimination2Tango / "Copycat"787830Safe3Freestyle / "Counting Stars"787830Safe4Rumba / "Read All About It, Pt. III"897832Safe5Salsa / "Súbeme la Radio"Jive Marathon / "Faith"8Awarded9129extra9pointsSafe6Modern / "Bad Guy"9981036Safe7Quickstep / "Puttin' On the Ritz"Cha-Cha-Cha / "El Anillo"989910910935Safe8Jive / "Dance with Me Tonight"Freestyle / "Instruction"Freestyle / "Counting Stars"910No910scores810were910awarded35-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. 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. 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, marking his second consecutive win on the show and third of the worldwide franchise. 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.
SeriesPartnerPlace4Lottie Ryan1st5Nina Carberry1st
Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance
DancePartnerHighestPartnerLowestAmerican Smooth Lottie RyanNina Carberry 29Cha-cha-cha Lottie Ryan 30 Nina Carberry 21Charleston Nina Carberry 30 Lottie Ryan 25Contemporary Ballroom Lottie Ryan 25 Foxtrot Jive Nina Carberry 26 Lottie Ryan 21Paso Doble Nina Carberry 30 Lottie Ryan 28Quickstep Lottie Ryan 30 Nina Carberry 19Rumba Nina Carberry 25Salsa Lottie Ryan 28 Nina Carberry 24Samba Lottie Ryan 29 Showdance Nina Carberry 29Tango Lottie Ryan 23 Nina Carberry 19Viennese Waltz Nina Carberry 30 Lottie Ryan 28Waltz
Performances with Lottie Ryan Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResultRedmondBarryBenson1Jive / "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"777No elimination2Contemporary Ballroom / "Castles"889Safe3Salsa / "Dora The Explorer Theme"9910Safe4Tango / "Radio"87823Safe5Charleston / "Woman Up"88925No elimination6Viennese Waltz / "One of a Kind"9910Safe7American Smooth / "Big Spender"9101029Bottom two8Samba / "Tip Toe"Team Dance / "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)"99109109Safe9Paso Doble / "Theme from Mission: Impossible"Rock-Til-You-Drop / "Happy Days"9Awarded9510points2833Bottom two10Quickstep / "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"Cha-Cha-Cha (with Ryan McShane) / "Turn Me On"101010101010Winners
Performances with Nina Carberry Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResultRedmondBarryGourounlian1Quickstep / "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"667No elimination2Rumba / "Starlight"889Safe3Tango / "Elevation (Tomb Raider mix)"66719Safe4Cha-cha-cha / "If the World Just Danced"77721Safe5Salsa / "Starships"88824No elimination6Viennese Waltz / "At Last"101010Safe7Charleston / "Doop"101010Safe8Jive / "Faith"89926Safe9American Smooth / "A Foggy Day (in London Town)"Team Dance / "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"991010101029Safe10Paso Doble / "Get Ready"Bust-a-Move Marathon / "I'm So Excited"10Awarded10410pointsSafe11Viennese Waltz / "At Last"Showdance / "If My Friends Could See Me Now"1091010101029Winners
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. He partnered journalist Luisella Costamagna. In the second week of the competition, Costamagna suffered a knee injury, 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 Costamagna and La Rocca should have remained in the competition when Costamagna was physically unable 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. 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 for her to continue. 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. 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.
SeriesPartnerPlace17Luisella Costamagna1st18Wanda Nara1st19Nina ZilliWithdrewFederica Pellegrini2ndSpin-offJaniya Mami2nd20Barbara D'Urso3rd
Performances with Luisella Costamagna Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto1Tango / "Beggin'"889710 -42No elimination2Modern / "Ricordati di me"89767 -37Safe3Waltz / "Il mondo" 56200 -No elimination4Bachata / "Killing Me Softly with His Song" 555010 -255Showdance / "All That Jazz"91010010 2564Safe6No dance performed - - - - - - -Withdrew7Did not compete - - - - - - -N/A8 - - - - - - -9 - - - - - - -10Paso Doble / "Survivor"Freestyle / "Trouble"10Won10majority10of9public10vote30-Won Repechage11Argentine Tango / "Codigo de Barra"Paso Doble / "Survivor"Showdance / "All That Jazz"Swing / "Trouble"Bachata / "Killing Me Softly with His Song"Waltz / "Il mondo"10WonFinishedNoNoWinners10theinscoresscoresof10knockoutthewerewerethe7challengetopawardedawardedfinal10dancetwohereherevote ------47 --Winners
Performances with Wanda Nara Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto1Rumba / "Caruso"108889 -No elimination2Samba / "Magalenha"1010101010 -50Safe3Paso Doble / "Believer" 10109710 1056 Safe4Waltz / "Unchained melody" 10101089 -47Safe5Salsa / "Despacito"101010109 -49Safe6Charleston / "Do Your Thing" 10 10 10 10 10 8 58Safe7Showdance / "I Put a Spell on You" 10 10 10 9 10 37 Safe8Bachata / "Déjà vu" 9 10 9 9 8 8 53Safe9Modern / "La vita splendida" 10 10 10 10 10 35 85 Safe10Argentine Tango / "Por una cabeza/la cumparsita"Paso Doble / "Believer"Samba / "Magalenha"Salsa / "Despacito"Charleston / "Do Your Thing"Waltz / "Unchained melody"Paso Doble / "Believer"10NoFinishedNoNoNoWinners10scoresinscoresscoresscoresof10werethewerewerewerethe10awardedtopawardedawardedawardedfinal10heretwoherehereherevote -------50----Winners
Performances with Nina Zilli Week No.DanceJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto1Quickstep986810 -37No elimination2Waltz1099910 2572No elimination3Charleston 88877 2058 Safe4Slowfox 898810 2568Safe5Freestyle7107010 -34Safe6No dance performed - - - - - - -Withdrew7Did not compete - - - - - - - N/A8 - - - - - - -9 - - - - - - -10No dance performed - - - - - - -Withdrew11Did not compete - - - - - - -N/A12 - - - - - - -
Performances with Federica Pellegrini Week No.DanceJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto10Paso Doble10999 - 2562Safe11Modern1010101010 3080Safe12QuickstepArgentine TangoModernSalsaCharlestonSlowfoxPaso Doble10FinishedFinishedNoNoNo2nd10ininscoresscoresscoresin9thethewerewerewerethe10toptopawardedawardedawardedfinal -threetwoherehereherevote -------50---- 2nd
Performances with Janiya Mami Week No.DanceJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto1Waltz1010101010 -50Safe2Boogie-woogie10101000 535Safe
Performances with Barbara D'Urso Week No.DanceJudges' scoreBonuspointsTotalResultZazzaroniCaninoSmithLucarelliMariotto1Rumba98877 -39No elimination2Tango79777 -37No elimination3Freestyle 1099910 -47 No elimination4Quickstep 1091098 3581No elimination5Salsa88867 1047Safe6Waltz 9 10 10 9 9 - 47Safe7Salsa Modern - 9 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 9 10 - 57 Safe8Samba Bachata 8 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 50 10 88 25%No elimination9 - Slowfox - 9 - 9 - 8 - 9 - 10 20 - 75 Safe10Paso Doble Freestyle10 Finished10 in10 the8 first9 semifinal10 -57 56%Safe11Waltz89968 -40Safe12Argentine Tango101010893077Safe13Waltz Argentine Tango10 3rd10 in10 the8 final9 vote - -473rd
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