CHICAGO | The Bulls public address announcer alerts the crowd that the Swingin' Seniors are about to invade the United Center. The 20,000-plus fans then liven as 15 Region residents, all older than 60, run onto the court and begin shaking and shimmying, smacking their backsides and twisting their hips as the white, fuzzy balls on their Santa hats flail in the air.

When the Swingin' Seniors ended their routine during the second quarter of the Dec. 17 Bulls-Los Angeles Clippers game, the crowd erupted in a thunderous cheer. After they were done dancing to a mix of hip-hop music, including "Tootsee Roll" and "Raise The Roof," sons turned to fathers and said, "You should try that."

MORE: View more photos of the Swingin' Seniors.

"When we went off, it was amazing the way they applauded and smacked our hands and took pictures," said Cliff Darnstaedt, a 65-year-old St. John resident who's one of five male members of the Swingin' Seniors. "One of the guys we ran into in the hallway said, 'You guys rock! You're better than the Luvabulls.' I said, 'Yeah, right.'"

This is the fifth season in which the Swingin' Seniors have performed at Bulls games, the group's director Cathy Core said. But this season, tryouts for the dance team were held at Omni 41 Health & Fitness Connection in Schererville for the first time. Of about 50 people who auditioned, 15 were selected.

"They're feisty and good-natured and lovable," Core said. "They're really doing a good job. They don't take themselves too seriously, which I really enjoy about them."

Members of the Swingin' Seniors are not paid, but they do receive two tickets for family and friends to each of the six games in which they perform. On game days, the group meets at Omni, where it boards a United Center-bound bus about four hours before tipoff. Once they arrive at the arena, choreographer Evadney King, who's been a member of the all-female dance team known as the Luvabulls for 10 years, runs them through a few more rehearsals before game time.

"This is our third crew that we've worked with, and they are phenomenal," said King, a Lansing resident. "They practice really hard on their own, which helps my job because we only get four or five rehearsals together prior to their next game. They're top notch."

And they're also interesting.

Darnstaedt and longtime friend Rudy Serrato are retired steel workers who decided to boogie at Bulls games during the offseason of their 60-and-over softball league in South Holland.

"I never thought I could do it," said Serrato, 66, of Griffith. "But I hung with it, and it's a lot of fun. ... I'm too old to worry about being embarrassed anymore. I'm just having a good time."

Dottie Pietrzak, a 73-year-old retired nurse, has four children and seven grandchildren, but she doesn't hesitate to bust a move, no matter how challenging it might be.

"It keeps you active," said Pietrzak, a Munster resident. "It keeps your blood circulating and your muscles working. I think it's good for seniors."

For some of the Swingin' Seniors, the exercise they get from dancing is the main benefit of being on the team. Others enjoy the camaraderie they have developed with their teammates, the chance to high-five Joakim Noah and other NBA players before Bulls games and, as St. John resident Marilyn Thiel said, the opportunity to "act up and be a ham once in a while."

Hammond resident Nancy Bochenek does it for the thrill and the chance to live her life to its fullest.

The 1961 Morton High School graduate, who won't reveal her age because she's "still out there dating," had brain surgery to remove a tumor on her pituitary gland when she was about 40. Bochenek had to relearn how to speak because of complications from the surgery. Then, in 1992, her husband, Richard, died of lung cancer at age 50.

After enduring hardships in her personal life, Bochenek said she has since been determined to seek excitement. In 1999, she went bungee jumping and paragliding in New Zealand.

Dancing at Bulls games is just another adventure.

"It's exhilarating," said Bochenek, who has four children and nine grandchildren. "It kind of puts excitement back into your life when you get older. When you get older and you can be that excited about something, that's pretty good."

And more important than anything, being a Swingin' Senior makes Bochenek feel the way she did when she was on the homecoming court at Morton. It puts her back in the spotlight. It makes her and the other Region-based performers feel young again.

"It's like going back in time," she said. "It's like we're back in high school. It's like the circle of life. We're going back to the way we were, and we're having fun doing it."