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


Life and career

Olivia Irene "Chachi" Gonzales, of Mexican descent, was born in Houston, Texas. At the age of 6, Gonzales enrolled at a local dance studio and was trained as a ballet dancer. Three years later at a dance event she attended, Gonzales witnessed a hip hop dance crew for the first time. Coincidentally, one of the crews there was Marvelous Motion, whose members (Phillip Chbeeb, Di Zhang and Brandon Harrell) would later become her fellow crew members in I.aM.mE. Gonzales became instantly hooked and decided to take up hip hop from then on. She enrolled at Lanier Middle School where hip hop was one of the styles taught. Though she was very shy at first, after months of hard training Gonzales honed her skills and became more confident. Eventually, Gonzales' dance teacher – impressed with Gonzales' skill– asked her 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, honing her skills.

In 2010, after the disbandment of Marvelous Motion, its three members Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb, Di "Moon" Zhang and Brandon "747" Harrell held an audition to create a new crew, I.aM.mE. Added to the lineup were the three new members: Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales, Emilio "Millie" Dosal, and Jana "Jaja" Vaňková in preparation for America's Best Dance Crew: Season of the Superstars. Gonzales was the youngest member of I.aM.mE.
America's Best Dance Crew
Further information: I.aM.mE § ABDC Season 6

Workshops and tours

From 2011 to the present, Gonzales has taught many dance classes and workshops in United States, Philippines, Belgium, Russia, the UK, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Thailand and India.

Personal life

Gonzales' family nicknamed her "Chachi" - short for "muchachita" - when she was younger. "Muchachita" 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.

Gonzalez attended Lanier Middle School where she was a part of the hip hop crew.

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. She made a dance appearance with I.aM.mE in the Disney TV programme, Shake It Up.

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

She took the lead role in the 2014 feature film The Legend of DarkHorse County, directed by Shawn Welling and produced by Welling Films.

Gonzales was one of the cast in the second season of teen drama East Los High which commenced on July 7, 2014.

At the 2014 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival awards, Gonzales won the Remi Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Legend of DarkHorse County. In 2015, she won the silver Remi Awards for Original Comedy Short for the 2014 In the News episode "Dog Day" and for the AXI episode "Alive" for Best Dramatic Original Short Film. All of these films were produced by Welling Films of Houston, Texas.

In May 2015, Gonzales visited the Philippines for the second time to judge in the grand finals of the Jagthug World Dance Off competition which was held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on May 30, 2015. Judging alongside her were Misha Gabriel and Andrew Veluz. They also taught two days of dance workshops at SM Megamall.

Music videos

Gonzales has appeared in several music videos:

Adam Irigoyen - "School Girl" (2012)
Jason Chen - "Thank You" (2013)
Meghan Trainor - "Lips Are Movin" (2014)