Oonka-Ah at the Aviv Centers for Living

Oonka-Ah.

Dancers from Dance Caliente waltzed into earlier this month and got bodies and voice boxes buzzing.

Eileen Herman-Haase and Raul Nieves’s presentations spanned decades and styles.

And period costumes spiced the waltz, Charleston, Peabody, swing, tango and salsa moves, said Herman-Hasse.

Nieves stripped away Velcro-bound layers in front of the crowd for one costume change.

Herman-Haase left the floor for her changes, one of which had her return in a sequin top for an Argentine tango.

Oonka-ahs got residents’ into the flow as much as anything.

Instead of counting a salsa rhythm in numbers, the dancers chanted them in oonka-ahs — expressive syllables that embody movement as they keep time.

The words jump from your stomach to your shoulders — a stylish shrug to one shoulder, a stylish shrug to the other, then back to the first one.

Sit in a seat or stand on your feet. It gets you moving.

The routines generated startling results among the adult day care and nursing home's men and women, many in their 70s, 80s and 90s, Herman-Haase said.

The Aviv Centers For Living's activities director told her a man who hadn’t moved his body for quite some time, clapped in his wheelchair during one of the dance lessons.

A woman who hadn’t spoken in months was vocalizing.

And the swing performance in costume coaxed good and drew uncomfortable recollections from a resident who fought in WW II.

Moving over the dance floor, Herman-Haase heard shouts of joy and saw smiles.

The program was supported in part by a grant from the Swampscott Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Dance Caliente performs at senior centers, retirement centers, and town celebrations in Massachusetts.