Independence Center’s Dancing With the St. Louis Stars

Independence Center’s Dancing With the St. Louis Stars

The Four Seasons was swirling with excitement on the evening of January 25, 2014, as seven St. Louis celebrities danced with their hearts and soles to benefit Independence Center.  The dance couples not only put on star-studded performances, but they helped raise record funds totaling $473,000 to provide critical services to adults living with mental illness in the St. Louis community.

The star-studded contestants included dance sensations: Warner Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ameren Missouri, and his professional partner Lucy Fitzgerald; Cynthia Mercer, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Mercy, and her professional partner Michael Fitzgerald; Tom Minogue, Chairman, Thompson Coburn LLP, and his professional partner Angie Brooks; Sue McCollum, Chief Executive Officer, Major Brands, with her professional partner Senzo Makhaye; David Diener, Vice President of Relationship Management, The St. Louis Trust Company, and his professional partner Agnieszka Maguire; Nicole Genovese, Sales Associate & Brand Ambassador, Genovese Jewelers, and her professional partner Spiro Marko; and Sheila Young, Independence Center Member, and her professional partner Steve Brockman. Rating their performances involved a panel of celebrity judges, some past winners: Steve Lipstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, BJC HealthCare; Ann Marr, Vice President of Human Resources, World Wide Technology, Inc; Kent Christian, President of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, Wells Fargo Advisors; and Ellen Sherberg, Publisher, St. Louis Business Journal.

Highlights of the competition came from David Diener and Agnieszka Maguire’s sultry tango, coupled with a surprise Gangnam style finish.  Warner Baxter and Lucy Fitzgerald swept the audience off their feet with their charming performance to a Frank Sinatra classic. Independence Center Member Sheila Young and Steve Brockman brought the crowd to their feet with their energetic performance to the rhythm of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love.” Cynthia Mercer and Michael Fitzgerald won the Judges’ Favorite award with their stellar theatrical routine to “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars.

Nicole Genovese and Spiro Marko “wowed” the crowd with their Latin-inspired performance to Enrique Iglesias’s “Bailamos.”  Tom Minogue and Angie Brooks brought out their inner prince and princess as they treated guests to a special music video that complimented Tom’s dapper dance moves to ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”

Nevertheless, Sue McCollum and Senzo Makhaye stole the crown with their “Bad Dancing for a Good Cause” campaign coupled with a surprise guest appearance by the Gateway Men’s Chorus during their rendition of Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money.”  Sue McCollum, the first woman CEO to win Dancing with the St. Louis Stars, gives all the credit to the employees of Major Brands and their amazing network of support from their suppliers, partners, family and friends.

Only one Dance Champion was crowned, but ALL of the dancers deserve a standing ovation for remaining world-class leaders in the St. Louis Community and dancing with their hearts and soles to benefit Independence Center.