Holiday tunes set to dance

Young dancers will light up the stage of Prairie Lakes Theater in Des Plaines Saturday night with an eclectic mix of jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop and ballet moves.

Artistry in Motion Dance Company, the Des Plaines Park District's dance company for teens, will present its fourth annual Winter Spectacular at 6:30 p.m. under the direction of Laura Chiuve and Caryn Do.

This year, for the first time, they'll be joined by the district's new junior dance company, AiM2. Nine junior dancers, ages 9 to 12, will join members of Artistry in Motion for the opening and closing numbers and will also perform several dances including "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Rest of My Life."

The 14 more experienced members of Artistry in Motion will perform dances to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Boogie Wonderland," "Hot Chocolate" and a tap dance to Bobby McFerrin's version of the Beatles' classic "From Me to You."

"We do two shows per year -- this one and then one in April where we choreograph dance numbers to songs from musicals," Chiuve said. "Last year all of the songs were about New York. This year they will all be from Disney musicals."

"This will be our most extensive Winter Spectacular yet," she added.

"We love having a dance company that can go out into the community for events like the city's tree lighting ceremony and the Lake Wonderland event," Chiuve explained. "We want people in the community to be able to see and enjoy outstanding dance without having to go downtown to see a professional company perform."

Chiuve and her former assistant, Jenny Ostrowski, founded Artistry in Motion in 2004. Its focus is on studying advanced dance technique with emphasis on performance. The company performs all original pieces choreographed for the company by Chiuve and her current co-director, Do.

As for the group's name, Chiuve says she loved the idea of dance as an art form and when she was growing up in Boston, she knew of a dance studio there called Dance Artistry.

"I loved that name and wanted to use the word 'artistry' in the name for our company. So after much thought, I came up with the name Artistry in Motion because dance obviously involves motion. And the name has stuck so I couldn't be happier," Chiuve said.

If you go

What: Artistry in Motion Dance Company's Winter Spectacular

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Prairie Lakes Theater, 515 Thacker St., Des Plaines

Tickets: $8, $5 for students; available at front desk of Prairie Lakes Leisure Center and at the door if available

More information: (847) 391-5700