Anita Giovengo has been called a lot of things during her dance career -- short, stocky and always fierce.

Even today, she is a straight-shooting, no-holds-barred dance teacher with a passion big enough to fill the Benedum Center. Her students at Just Dance Conservatory in North Fayette always know where they stand -- or move -- with her. They also know that she cares.

Ms. Giovengo cares deeply about the art form that she chose so early in life when she attended the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre school. But ballet wasn't in the cards, so she switched to the Civic Light Opera and later Point Park College, where she studied jazz and modern dance.

The Scott native gave New York a try and spent a couple of years with the American Dance Machine and the Jamison Project, an early choreographic effort by Judith Jamison, who famously took over the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

On a visit back to Pittsburgh, she met Tomi Cousin and it opened up a whole new world. He did dance theater, equal parts of two exciting art forms, with his company, the Physical Theater Project. It was art with an edge and it held great appeal for Ms. Giovengo.

When Mr. Cousin landed a role on Broadway and headed off to New York, Ms. Giovengo did something she never thought she'd do -- she opened a dance studio.

Her first attempt at Just Dance, located near Burgettstown, was highly successful. In just a few years she had burgeoned to several hundred students, with a dozen staff members who were some of Pittsburgh's finest -- such as Karen Simmons, Tom Downing and Allie Greene -- in a warehouse space that grew from 1,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet.

But Ms. Giovengo was unhappy.

"My studio lost all its heart," she said.

But not for long. Ms. Giovengo downsized, located a small basement studio and invited some of her students to start over with her.

It was the right move.

These days Ms. Giovengo is happy and still caring. She teaches the majority of the students herself, except for tap ("tap and I just don't get along") and delights in "giving them the best possible training I can. I'm excited again," she said. "And I'm glad to share it with my kids."

She also shares her love of dance theater with them -- no regular recital with a stream of numbers for her. It had been Ms. Simmons who suggested, "Why don't you use some kind of theme?"

So Ms. Giovengo poured her passion into it -- "Alice in Wonderland" for her first try, with a "Cinderella" who went to a big dance audition in a yellow taxi the next year. "Wizard of Oz" pretty much stayed the same, but then Ms. Giovengo started to "get crazier" with "Candyland," based on the classic board game.

Ms. Giovengo, assistant Kelly Chappell and some of the students wrote a dance-oriented script with a few speaking roles over a night of pizza and refreshments.

They were eager to include the students' other talents, such as playing an instrument.

Ms. Giovengo sent out invitations to parents and alumni who would be attending the mystery dinner. In this "Clue," the whole audience played the game, using a "Playbill" for the program and listening to the "Deal or No Deal" theme as they traveled from room to room with Miss Scarlet, Miss Plum and Madam Jade.

The pointe class opened the show to "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. "Clue" boy Alex Love, along with his group of "Clue" girls, attend to the who, what, where and when of the game.

As Ms. Giovengo put it, "I didn't murder anybody."

It doesn't matter -- it was all in good fun. And Just Dance Conservatory got it -- the "Clue" -- to dance and to life.