Movie-themed Dancing with Show Me Stars coming soon

The sixth annual Dancing with Show Me Stars will take place Saturday, July 29, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

The event is a fundraiser for Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri (CPSEMO), and is based on the ABC television dance competition "Dancing with the Stars", which partners celebrities with professional dancers to perform choreographed routines judged by a panel of ballroom experts.

Melissa Stickel, director of CPSEMO, said Dancing with Show Me Stars will partner Southeast Missouri community "stars" with local professional dancers. The competitors will be judged by two dancers from the ABC series, Alayne Wadsworth and Ryan Di Lello.

The judges will choose their favorite dance team, but Stickel said there will be an audience choice award, as well. She said each dance team will have a jar where guests can make cash donations, and the team that earns the most money will win the overall award.

Ashley Sweet, event coordinator with CPSEMO, said this year's theme will be "Step into the Movies" with dance numbers inspired by scenes from popular films such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Beetlejuice" and "Pulp Fiction".

The Dancing with Show Me Stars contestants are:

• Callie Parker, a singer from Jackson and the work-based training coordinator for PAVE, a partner with CPSEMO, will be performing with dance professional Jeremiah Linson to music from "Beauty and the Beast".
• Jeannette Holloway, a commercial and residential designer at South Fork in Cape Girardeau, will be doing a group hip-hop dance to music from the films "Mean Girls", "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Barbie". She will be joined by her best friends Cacie Ramsey and Kaile Burgin, as well as Micheal "Crank" Curry, owner of Fingerprint Urban Dance Studios in Cape Girardeau, who also choreographed the routine.
• Elijah Enderle, a freelance makeup artist from Cape Girardeau, will also be dancing with Michael Curry to music from the film "Beetlejuice".
• James "J Mack" Macklin, a barber and a real estate agent with Ritter Real Estate in Cape Girardeau, will be dancing with Kanaan Steiner, owner of hair design studio The Room. They will be performing a mashup dance routine to music from the films "Grease" and "The Mask".
• Sandra Koenig, a recruiter of financial advisers at Northwestern Mutual in Cape Girardeau, will be performing a tango with Michael Curry to music from "The Addams Family" film.
• Stacy Huff, the executive director of the Saint Francis Foundation in Cape Girardeau, will be dancing with his wife, also named Stacy. They will be re-creating the Jack Rabbit Slim Twist Contest number from the film "Pulp Fiction".
• Mary Niswonger, an administrator with Silver Springs Surgery in Jackson, will be dancing a jive routine with her husband, Travis, to music from the film "Hairspray".

Cape Girardeau restaurants A LA Carte Catering and 36 Restaurant and Bar will collaborate to provide food and drinks for the event, Stickel said, and Big Band of the Heartland and Platinum Rock Legends will be providing music.

Stickel said there will also be a "Bourbon and Wine Pull", where guests can pay $30 to "pull" a disguised bottle of bourbon or wine at random. She said the bottles will range in quality and price from $20 to $200.

According to its website, CPSEMO delivers a range of services that improve the lives of individuals, children and families, and to build strong neighborhoods and communities. The website states CPSEMO serves as a fiscal agent for various community grants and programs such as Cape After School Program, Missouri Mentoring Partnership and Americorp Vista.

Stickel said the money raised from the Dancing with Show Me Stars event will be used to "fill in the gaps" not covered by CPSEMO's grants and programs. She said CPSEMO's goal for 2023 is $125,000.

"Maybe somebody can't afford to pay for a copy of their birth certificate or a driver's license, which is not very much money, but a lot of the grants won't cover that exact thing," Stickel said. "So, the money raised helps with those gray areas for little things like home repairs or just food for people that's a critical need for that family."