Trustee Nicole Gilhooley, who represented Brookfield and its board of trustees, was called as the victor of the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce’s second annual Dancing with the Chamber competition April 27. She beat out nine other business owners and chamber members with her American tango performance to “Cell Block Tango” from the musical “Chicago.”
A crowd of more than 400 people filled nearly every seat in Riverside-Brookfield High School’s auditorium over the weekend to cheer on the competitors.
Trustee Nicole Gilhooley (left) wowed the judges with her American tango performance of “Cell Block Tango.” Credit: Stella Brown 
Christopher Valadez (center right, in white) spun his dance partner during the merengue portion of their performance. The first half of their dance was dedicated to the Viennese waltz. Credit: Stella Brown 
Dan Parcel (center) twirled his dance partner, Sophia Papadopoulos, during their bolero performance. Credit: Stella Brown 
Wendy Moore (center right, in green) got funky with it during her West Coast Swing performance to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Credit: Stella Brown 
Alberto Jaquez (left) held his dance partner close during their bachata dance while the three emcees watched from the side of the stage. Credit: Stella Brown 
Sophia Papadopoulos (left) ripped off Phil Richard’s white pants to reveal sparkly green shorts during his jive performance to AC/DC’s “Moneytalks.” Credit: Stella Brown 
The contestants took the stage at the end of the show to bow before the winner was announced. Credit: Stella Brown 
Trophy in hand, Trustee Nicole Gilhooley (center) approached the edge of the stage after the show so friends and community members could give her flowers and congratulate her. Credit: Stella Brown
Aside from Gilhooley, who is the village board’s liaison to the chamber, those competing included Marco Granja of State Farm Insurance; Alberto Jaquez, an RB dean of students; Mary Misch of Tischler Finer Foods; Wendy Moore of Daisy’s Treats & Bakery; Dan Parcel of More Than Hair, Ltd.; Phil Richard of First National Bank of Brookfield; Rev. Karl Sokol of Compassion United Methodist Church; Christopher Valadez of Cycle Brookfield; and Aracely “Maria” Verduzco of Loca Mocha Café.
Their performances were choreographed once again by Brookfield resident Teresa Swanson, who owns Sway Dance Chicago, while three of Sway’s professional dancers — Alejandro Cruz, Sophia Papadopoulos and Aynsley Parker — filled in as each competitor’s dancing partner.
The show’s three emcees were Anne Clark, Brian Sharenow and Amy Weinert, the Chamber of Commerce’s administrator, president and treasurer, respectively. Swanson judged the competitors alongside Chuck Hitzeman, the owner of Hitzeman Funeral Home, and Héctor Freytas, RB’s principal, who both competed in Dancing with the Chamber’s first go.
Ready for round two
While the first Dancing with the Chamber took place in October 2022, Swanson said the Chamber of Commerce did not opt to skip the event last year.
“We decided just to try a different time of year,” she said in a phone interview Thursday. “I think we just kinda wanted to try to see if it was a little easier to schedule for business owners, or, you know, just to try the spring as the event time to see if that made a difference to the participants and for ticket purchasers, too.”
Aside from the time of year the event was held, Swanson said she and the other organizers didn’t change much about this year’s Dancing with the Chamber after the success of the first one. The only other big change was to the judging panel, with Freytas and Hitzeman replacing Parks & Recreation Commissioner Mary Vyskocil and former Riverside-Brookfield Landmark Editor Bob Uphues.
“The other two judges are were actually participants last year, so they have kind of some experience with how it works and the work that goes into it,” Swanson said.
Of the contestants who agreed to this year’s competition, Swanson said “there’s kind of a specific personality type.”
“Even though they’re all very different, they’re all very willing, and they’re all very energetic, and they’re all great,” she said. “This is always really easy and fun for me because I enjoy it so much, and they’re all so into it. Their energy is amazing.”
Despite the contestants’ enthusiasm, Swanson said they each only got about six hours of training across three months of weekly, half-hour lessons.
“It’s not a lot of time at all, so we do a lot of work,” she said. “‘Dancing with the Stars,’ when you watch those shows, they have intensive training for, you know, a long time every day, so they get a lot more time with those dancers than I get. But for only having that amount of time, they do an incredible job.”
Get the winner’s perspective
In a phone interview with the Landmark Friday — just one day before she took the stage to win Dancing with the Chamber — Gilhooley said her immediate reaction to being asked to compete was nervousness, but she agreed anyway.
“I love our Chamber of Commerce. I think they do an exceptional job connecting with the community, and I think one thing that drives them is just wanting to know their community,” she said. “That helped my nerves a bit, to know that people I would be dancing with and around would be people that I know.”
She said another factor that got her to agree to compete was hearing from Hitzeman about how much he enjoyed competing the first time around, so much that he wished he could compete again.
Gilhooley said she enjoyed training for Dancing with the Chamber despite her lack of dancing experience, especially the dress rehearsal one week out from the event.
“To be on the stage and see the lights and experience what it’s like to be backstage, we got to do that during our rehearsal last Sunday, so that was really good practice,” she said. “I feel like I’ve had enough lessons for the show, and it’s been time well spent for sure.”
With only a day to go before her performance — and with most of the other contestants’ performances under wraps — Gilhooley said she was looking forward to see it all come together.
“One of the coolest things was to be back in the dressing room with the other female dancers and just to see people’s costumers and just talk about it together, because we have been trying to keep it somewhat separate,” Gilhooley said about the dress rehearsal. “The other part is, I just love how people are saying, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to come see the dance’ … I just love the whole of it, right? It’s not just the dance itself, it’s how it’s all bringing us together, which I think is really exciting.”
She added that she hopes the event spotlights the businesses that were represented by dancers.
Gilhooley added that she doesn’t see a reason for Dancing with the Chamber to not get a third installment.
“Every single person I have talked to that participated in the first one and that went to watch it only has amazing things to say about it: how fun it was, how entertaining. And it’s not even just about who won or who didn’t win, it was just, what a fun time it was and how great the emcees were, and all of that,” she said. “You’re not just going there to cheer on strangers. You’re going to there to cheer on business owners that you know and community members, because many of our business owners also live here … I don’t see why it shouldn’t continue.”
