Gabriel Rocha is going into his Senior year of high school, and into his 6th season with Extensions Dance Company. Before dance Gabe tried a variety of activities such as Soccer, Swimming, Tae kwon do, and acting. However, after seeing different family and friends dance, he insisted on taking classes himself. Gabriel started dancing at the age of 11 at Extensions and he quickly fell in love with the variety of classes provided by the amazing faculty.  Gabe is grateful to call Extensions his second home and he enjoys being around his peers at Extensions, who help him feel loved and welcomed. He appreciates the safe space created at Extensions where he is able to be himself and explore his creative mind. Gabe is honored to be trained and mentored by Lizzie MacKenzie, who always pushes him to his limits and is a great role model.

For the past two summers, Gabriel, has attended the Juilliard Summer Dance intensive in New York, as well as the River North Dance Company intensive and Elements Contemporary Ballet intensive. This past summer he attended the DanceWorks Chicago summer intensive under the direction of Julie Nakagawa and Sara Bibik, and he attended New York City Dance Alliance national convention in NY where he was awarded $330K in college scholarships from 5 different colleges.  Gabe is always looking forward to self growth and cannot wait to see what the future holds for him as he embarks on his final year with Extensions. He is thankful to his parents and Extensions Dance for helping him pursue his dreams.