Freshmen students during the COVID-19 pandemic flap their wings.

“U-Turn” founded 14 years ago is the signature dance team at UNIST consisting of freshmen to postgraduate students. Freshmen and sophomore students are called active team members. Currently, there are 22 active members, and other junior and senior classmates including postgraduate and graduated students also participate in practices or performances whenever they are available to do so. Just like a being at a dance club, there is an upbeat vibe filled with their energy and excitement when they get together. This wasn’t the case for the last two years because there were no opportunities to express their artistic creativity regularly.
“The active team members, who are the 13th and 14th class members, are called freshmen students during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a lot of restrictions on face-to-face activities. The key activity of the dance group is a performance, but we couldn’t do this. So we only held dance practices just for the fun of it. When we recruited new members, we did it online, rather than hold in-person interviews. All the members couldn’t gather in one place as well.”
But where will the U-Turn energy be channeled? In the early mornings or late evenings, even a small number of members gather and practice when the fitness center is going to be less crowded. They take pictures of their dance practices and share the information. As if rewarding those times, the restriction of social distancing has been finally lifted this year and normal activities have become possible.
“I felt really good even if our moves were wrong or we messed up when we gathered and practiced together. We can now have regular performances and look forward to the upcoming university festival. We hope to put on outdoor performances every chance we get. Just thinking about it makes me excited already.”

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Looking forward to the festival!

One more thing that has been postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic! The school festival, which is called the romance of college life, will be held again this autumn. Who could be looking forward to this moment more than U-Turn? Members gather in one place for practice every day with one mind and heart. Few members are absent even during school holidays, and the practice room at the university sports center is full of members.
“It is the first large performance for our active team members. We are practicing hard with equal parts anticipation and excitement. Teams of three, five, and seven members are participating and we even sing group songs. Our senior classmates are also planning to participate, so we are preparing the choreography version.”
U-Turn will be on stage for the eve festival on Sept. 2 and the main performance on Sept. 3. To select a team to be performed on stage, they will have an internal contest in August. Based on the contest results, the first to fourth place teams will be on the festival day stage and the fifth to eighth place teams will be on the eve stage.
“You won’t be disappointed by U-Turn’s on-stage performance regardless of the eve or main event because all our members are preparing for a wonderful performance with all their heart, whether they win a prize or not.”
Besides the university festival, U-Turn has a regular club performance called “Nandong” once a year. It has also been temporarily suspended for two years due to COVID-19. This year, U-Turn is planning a Nandong performance in November. It is their own festival where seniors and juniors gather in one place to show off their dance moves and bond together.
“Many senior classmates went on to postgraduate schools at UNIST or some got a job after graduation, but some of them still visit us without forgetting us. Because of such a connection, U-Turn has persisted and still stays strong. We will give a regular Nandong performance this year with an upbeat atmosphere like spending time catching up after waiting a really long time to get together finally.”

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All who want to dance are welcome.

It is simple to join for U-Turn. You only need a passion for dance with a sincere heart. To accomodate senior classmates who went on to postgraduate schools but still participate in the school club activities, most practice times are set in the early morning during the semester. The dances look even better when we all dance.
“When we receive sign-up application forms, we also asked them whether they can show up to early morning practice. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. In particular, practice with senior classmates can make progress easily tangible.”
Since we are amateur dancers and individual skills vary, those who master the choreography earlier teach those who haven’t, which is our way of learning choreography. This is not a competition about who is better or worse at dancing, but rather a place for us to enjoy the process of performing on stage together.
“We practice and learn various dance genres like hip-hop, K-Pop, choreography, etc. Indeed, the ability to dance well as a group is important so that the performance looks good on stage. That said, our criteria for great dance are somewhat different. We think dancing well means always showing up to practice, making efforts in earnest to correct choreography mistakes, and enjoying the dance on stage with gusto. That is why dancing is fun even if the learning process is hard.”
Last year, we had an outdoor performance once at a nearby elementary school. We had a performance in front of children and taught them how to do simple choreography. The performance time was short due to quarantine rules and cheering was prohibited except for applause. But, we still remember how much fun it was. Indeed, dancing should be greater if we dance together.