How the Golden State Warriors’ senior dancers became fan favorites

It’s 3:30 p.m. on a Monday, and a group of 16 senior dancers are grooving on the court at Chase Center.

They throw their arms up and down, give a high kick, bend over low, draw a half circle with their hips, pop up and snap their necks back and forth, their grey and white hair glistening under the giant spotlights usually reserved for Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

Five hours later, after the third quarter of what will be a Warriors’ 134-117 win over the Utah Jazz, the 14 women and two men, all aged 55 and older, line up in the tunnel just outside the court as they prepare to perform for 18,000 fans. They give each other a pep talk. Some get emotional.

“My heart starts to beat really fast when we’re in that tunnel,” said 72-year-old dancer Kristie Turner, who previously danced for the Oakland Raiders in the 1980s. “My first game, I started tearing up even before I went out. It’s just very emotional.”

Out they run, smiles big and bright.

“Bring the energy, smile and enjoy it,” Turner tells herself in these moments.

As soon as the music starts, the dance crew moves in perfect unison.

This isn’t some simple step-and-clap dance routine. It features some of the same complex choreography being used for the Warriors signature dance teams.

The Hardwood Classics have been practicing all week — three times in Walnut Creek, rehearsals at Chase Center, countless hours perfecting steps in front of the mirror at home. All culminating in a 60-second routine.

“I’ve had people come and watch the games and then they’ll ask me: ‘If you practice so many hours to dance for one minute, is it worth it?’” said team captain Carol Uyeda, 61. “And every single time I say, ‘yeah, it’s worth it.’ Every time.”

For the men and women on the Hardwood Classics, these 60 seconds can fuel their entire lives.

“You can’t explain it,” Uyeda said. “I’ve tried to explain it to my kids. They would ask me, ‘What’s the draw?’ I say, ‘It’s the feeling when you run out on that court and there’s 18,000 people all focusing on you. It just brings you up.’”

The first Classics team was formed in 2018, the last season the Warriors were at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Sabrina Ellison, the senior director of the Warriors’ entertainment team, was pitched the idea of a senior dance team and liked it, but she had one concern: it couldn’t be a comedy routine. If she was going to put a group of hard-working seniors in front a rowdy crowd of NBA fans, she needed to be certain they’d be taken seriously.

She decided the same choreographers would be used for all the dance teams, from the Junior Jam Squad to the Blue Crew to the senior group. So this wasn’t going to be a joy ride for the Hardwood Classics dancers. It was going to be hard work.

“I wanted to push them past their limits as performers,” Ellison said.

With that in mind, the Warriors held tryouts.

“Usually we get 200 or 300 people to try out for our dance teams,” Ellison said. “For the first Hardwood Classics team, we had 500 or 600 people.”

Ellison wanted a mix of former professional and casual dancers, a group that could find chemistry with each other, bring out each other’s strengths as performers and engage with a young crowd.

“The makeup of our team is really those people that catch your eye and that are coachable,” she said. “We don’t just focus on dancers that have had years and years of experience. We focus on those that are going to make our fan base feel something.”

After selecting her first team of dancers, Ellison challenged them with intense choreography. She wasn’t sure how’d they handle it.

Looking back at their very first performance at Oracle Arena in 2018, Ellison said it’s one of her favorite memories.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know how the fan base would receive them,” Ellison said. “And they roared. They absolutely lost their minds.”

The Hardwood Classics performed at six games that season. Over the years that followed, they’ve earned more and more time on the court, with the Warriors gradually ramping up their performance schedule.

This year, they’re dancing in a record 16 games.

To meet the demand, Ellison expanded her roster to 32 dancers and now rotates two squads from game to game, though some dancers, including team captain Uyeda, dance for both squads.

“Sabrina doesn’t want this team to be a novelty,” Uyeda said. “This is real dancing. That’s what makes this team special, too, is the audience will say, ‘Wow, you could still do that at their age?’ She wants the wow factor.”

Uyeda was on the Warriors dance team for three years in the late ’80s. She thought her dance career was over after that. She had a career in biotech. She had kids. She kept dancing casually.

Then she saw the ad for the Hardwood Classics in 2019.

“It was a dream come true,” she said. “I remember constantly thinking in 1991 I’m probably not going to do this again. I may not ever get on a court again and dance. I mean that was back with Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. And we were doing four routines a game. I didn’t think I’d get to dance professionally again.”

Thinking about it, Uyeda starts to cry.

“I get emotional thinking because I know how hard everyone works,” she said. “We all love this team. I’m just so grateful to be here.”

Turner said that dancing for the Hardwood Classics has kept her brain sharp.

“The choreography is way more robust than it was back in the day,” said Turner, who was on the Raiders’ dance team in the 80s and 90s. “We looked great for what we did back then, but I love the robustness of the choreography now. I have to practice 10 times a day. I find that all the practice really helps with remembering things.”

At least 10-20 hours of preparation goes into each minute on the floor, she said.

The group has an unwritten rule: don’t complain about the pain.

“Nothing hurts,” Turner said cheekily.

But in truth, every time Turner steps onto the court, she said she isn’t sure if it’ll be her last. To lengthen her career, she focuses on cardio training throughout the year.

“I just ran my last half marathon,” the 72-year-old said. “I run all year. And one of the things that Sabrina asks us to do is get low, which means your quads have to be worked. So I put a weight program in there. And I try and go to as many exercise classes as possible to work the brain.”

Earlier this year, the group celebrated the 80th birthday of one of its members, Jan Yale, who retired after the 2024-2025 season. Turner is now the oldest member.

Dion Wiedenhoefer, Marcy Borghi and Marlo Dewing were original Warriors dance team members decades ago and have returned to the spotlight with the Hardwood Classics.

Ruben De La Pena, Tracy Perrilliat and Charlotte Merriwether all battled cancer and are now dancing again while in remission.

“It’s like one little beautiful family,” Ellison said. “They’re a reminder that life will get hard. This team deals with a lot of different challenges because of where they are in that stage of life. And what is so inspiring about them is how they throw a smile on. They cheer each other on. They’re bringing treats for each other. They’re celebrating each other’s birthdays. They’re leaning on each other.”

Making friends in your 60s and 70s is hard, the dancers said, but the team has given them a sense of community. The love they feel from the fans is the cherry on top.

“These dancers really touched our fanbase,” Ellison said. “You see the Hardwood Classics and they’re just as strong as any of our dancers. And the expectation is high for them as well. So it really leaves a lot of joy when you see them perform.”

Ellison is 47 now, still eight years away from being eligible to join the Classics.

When that day comes, she plans to become a member.

“The Hardwood Classics are a beautiful testament that no matter your age, you’re not done until you’re done,” she said.