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Stepping Up to the Challenge Dance Team From Fox Lake Studio Makes the Cut for State Competition

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 20:00 CDT

A Fox Lake area dance troupe will represent Lake County in the State of Illinois Talent Competition in January.

The SCREAM Team from Assemble Studio of Performing Arts, formerly Dell's Dance Academy in Fox Lake, took home the blue ribbon at the Lake County Fair in early August.

The event was open to competitors from around the county.

"I was thrilled when the girls won," said Jennifer Della-Peruta, Assemble owner and team director. "It was a goal of ours to get in the top five, so when we won, we were ecstatic."

This is the fifth year Assemble has appeared at the Lake County Fair, and the first time they ever won it.

However, Della-Peruta said the academy has expanded to take on different roles.

She said the name was changed when other performing arts were added to the studio on Route 12.

She said, "We can't just be called a dance studio anymore. We are doing more musical theater classes, as well as musical performances and private musical lessons," she said. "We are also hoping to take on more drama classes and other things, just to add more art to the area."

Della-Peruta has been in dance since she was 3 years old. She studied at Columbia College of Chicago before moving on to teach her art.

Five years ago, she decided to open a dance studio in Fox Lake was because she felt the area lacked a certain culture that she was used to while growing up in Chicago.

"Without this studio, I would worry that people wouldn't get to know how wonderful dance is," she said. "So, I decided to stay and try to build it up to something."

She has expanded her studio and added another classroom. Now she can offer more classes at expanded times. In addition, she has four teachers working with her in the studio.

Della-Peruta said 75 percent of her students reside in other towns in Lake County.

Assemble teaches a variety of dance classes, including tap dance, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, point - using the hard point shoes featured in ballet - and lyrical dance.

Classes are open to children of all ages, she said.

"We also give free lessons to boys who are interested in dance," she said. "The reason is because most boys do not go out for dance classes, so to try and draw more boys in, we are offering free classes to see if they like it."

She also offers a class called "adult funk," where adults of all ages can come in and try to learn modern dance steps.

"That class is truly for people with limited rhythm and just cannot dance on a dance floor," she said. "We are here to help."

The SCREAM team is made up of six girls ranging in ages from 11 to 18 years of age.

They are: Kristol Discola, 13, Denise Lilla, 14, Marsha Lilla, 11, Amanda Munson, 13, Stephanie Altman, 18, and Nikki Lostrosco, 15.

The team will be competing at the state competition on Jan. 15 in Springfield.

"The girls are really excited," she said. "The judges in Lake County said we should do pretty well at the state level, so we are hoping for the best."

Registration at the studio is closed for the rest of the year, but a new registration will start Nov. 26 and run through Jan. 8.

Dance team tryouts for new registering students will be at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. Dance classes will begin Jan. 11.

People are welcome to sign up by calling the studio at (847) 587- 9161.

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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