TWS first revealed themselves to the world through their pre-release track “Oh Mymy : 7s” on January 2, followed by their debut proper on the 22nd with their first mini album, Sparkling Blue. Taking their first steps onto the world stage with nervous excitement, they may appear a bit awkward or even clumsy at times, but the years of hard work they had put into preparing for their “first encounter” have allowed them to showcase their incredible energy on stage through their movement and song. TWS has already turned heads thanks to their outstanding teamwork and the exciting, original dance moves that Sparkling Blue has given the world. Now, let’s take a look at behind the scenes of their eagerly awaited first encounter and the shining, shimmering performances that have come alongside.

Practice makes perfect performances
In his interview with Weverse Magazine, KYUNGMIN says that, when it comes to getting group dances down, “there’s really only one way: practice, and repeat.” There were no shortcuts to mastering the clockwork choreography they execute on the stage. The secret to giving their performance extra polish was to fully grasp the movements and practice them obsessively “until it all becomes instinct,” Ryu Jaehee, head of the PLEDIS Performance Directing Team, says, pointing to that process as what “brought them all together as one.” It became routine for the TWS members to stay behind and practice together even longer after training was done for the day. “Either because they personally wanted to improve further, or they knew how hard it is to practice alone,” Ryu says, “they voluntarily stayed behind to practice together.”

One of the central features of TWS’s performances are the facial expressions and piercing looks they give second by second. “We worked together with the group members,” says Hae Su Lee, a member of the PLEDIS Performance Directing Team, “first lifting any restrictions on the range of expression, respecting the direction they came up with themselves so the expressions could be richer.” The TWS members carefully watched each other and gave each other feedback while practicing their facial expressions in their first appearance on MMTG, saying that, while they were “a little shy when I first practiced” and “felt awkward,” eventually, “after a few tries, it got better.” There’s a lot more to consider about the way you express yourself using your face when you’re on stage than in the real world, Ryu says, noting the boys were directed to “recognize that they need to use their facial muscles more than they’d expect in making different facial expressions so that they go beyond simply making faces and that the audience can feel their emotions.”

Time to talk
TWS has something they call their fireside time, when they all sit down together to share and discuss their concerns or anything else they want to talk about. Regular sessions like these demonstrate how the group fosters a sense of teamwork through unfettered communication. Before debuting, they undertook a collective mission to cover a variety of different K-pop dances. That experience of learning and refining choreography together not only served to improve their performances but also “facilitated in helping them find ways of communicating with each other,” says Ryu Jaehee. In his Weverse Magazine interview, DOHOON mentions that, though the members of the group were well-intentioned in trying to be considerate with one another, they ended up speaking to each other in a roundabout way that quickly became overly complicated, leading them to establish a rule “to be honest about our feelings as they come up.” They each took on a variety of roles throughout the training process, showing respect for one another in all their interactions and gradually growing closer to form one cohesive team. As Hae Su Lee says, “The secret to their teamwork is their approach to communication, where they’re free to express their opinions without having to walk on eggshells.

“Nothing goes to plan” when it comes to “first encounters,” but they’re still good
“Gotta wave my hand just like I practiced,” the boys sing in “plot twist,” referencing their own hard preparation, and while they’re confident with their “perfect plan … to talk to you,” when the moment finally comes, the metaphorical speech bubble full of words they meant to speak bursts into thin air, the members reverting back to their timid selves as they remind themselves how “first encounters are always so hard.” Not surprisingly, TWS’s exciting performance as shy boys in “plot twist” is filled with messages. “The performance was given a storyline, that shifts before the chorus with the words, ‘three, two, one,’ about being rudely awakened out of your own imagination,” Ryu Jaehee explains. That plot twist, Hae Su Lee adds, is accompanied by a carefully choreographed representation of those turbulent emotions, “following the lyrics as it moves from three of the members dancing together, then two, and finally each of them on their own.” The imagined speech bubbles representing the boys’ expectations practically float upward like clouds, only to burst, but by the end of the song, “KYUNGMIN pops the speech bubbles, rescuing DOHOON from inside, demonstrating his determination to have courage” as they wave goodbye with smiles on their faces, knowing they’ll see each other again tomorrow. They may be scared, but the boys are still excited and have shown the courage to seek personal growth. Then there’s the line, “What’s your name?” The TWS members position their arms in the shape of the Korean initials that represent the line (“ㄴㄱㅅㅇ”). According to Lee, the choreography initially called for them to shape out the first four characters of Hangul, the Korean alphabet, instead, but was later reworked to better emphasize the lyrics and so that the boys could better express themselves. “plot twist” acts like TWS’s first love letter to the world, spelled out carefully, character by character, to fully express the beauty of Sparkling Blue in a way that only the group can. As Ryu says, they “made a great effort” to fill the song “with what makes TWS so special.

TWS takes control of the stage
“On a kickboard,” Ryu Jaehee reveals, is the line from “BFF” that “was the inspiration to use trapezoid-shaped tables with wheels as props” and “the starting point” of the performance. By riding, sitting on, flipping over, and pushing those tables together, TWS creates a space all their own on the stage. The rolling tables added many moving parts to the choreography that needed greater consideration—singing, dancing, facial expressions, managing the tables themselves—but they also enabled them to inject the performance with a greater variety of effects and visuals. To keep the performers safe, “the wheels on the desks could be manipulated and locked by stepping on them,” Ryu explains, “and the edges were magnetized.” Now their own personal arena, the stage gives TWS a space to run and jump around, do the wave, and strike poses, totally unrestrained. Ryu and Hae Su Lee both picked youngest member KYUNGMIN “pulling the others toward him as they bend their knees one by one” as their personal highlight as it “perfectly captures how uniquely tight-knit TWS is.” The performance serves to highlight the group’s chemistry—a glimpse into how they’ve made fast friends and have a blast no matter what they’re doing, as long as they’re together.

7 seconds
“I’d say the most intense choreography so far is for ‘Oh Mymy : 7s,’” HANJIN says in his interview with Weverse Magazine. “There isn’t a second to rest, and we have to sing at the same time, so it requires a lot of concentration.” Although the same could be said of all three of their choreographed songs, there’s a reason why TWS was able to pull off the wall-to-wall moves of “Oh Mymy : 7s” on stage with such overwhelming confidence. “That song took the longest to prepare for the performance,” Hae Su Lee explains, noting how “a lot of thought went into the movements in the chorus in particular so that they wouldn’t feel childish but people could still dance along to them.” The boys feverishly stretch out their hands and feet against a chorus with minimalistic backing music, then gradually reduce the intensity. “Those straight, stretched-out lines they create are attention-grabbing, and we wanted their first moves to arouse curiosity,” Ryu Jaehee explains, and the choreography, which allows the TWS members to both “alternate the intensity” of their moves and “highlight their physical attributes,” makes for a simple but powerful first impression. And it was the countless hours of practice that gave the group the confidence to capture peoples’ hearts in just “7s.”

TWS’s attitude towards practicing
United by their passion and motivation, the six boys of TWS six each have their own strengths and come together as one. PLEDIS staff Ryu Jaehee and Hae Su Lee shed some light on each of the members' approaches to training for performances. KYUNGMIN has “no fear in expressing himself,” is “overflowing with ideas and curiosity,” and has “a very active, flexible attitude.” JIHOON, who told Weverse Magazine that “there’s nothing quite like dancing,” “stands out in choreography especially, with his powerful energy being an asset,” which, Lee explains, is further enhanced by how he was directed to “focus on tuning his energy” as necessary. Lee also describes him as “the very embodiment of passion, persevering through to the end when everything clicks.” Like JIHOON, YOUNGJAE has “an eye not only for himself but for the bigger picture,” taking a leading role in moderating discussions during practice. HANJIN, who had relatively less time to prepare for the debut, “is quick to acknowledge his own shortcomings and take things on with passion” and sincerity. Then there’s DOHOON, who “comes up with a lot of his own ideas but is also quick to agree to others and good at sticking to the decisions that get made,” and while “he might not look that playful, he’s always joking around with the cute, younger KYUNGMIN.” Finally, “the other members rely heavily on” SHINYU, who “takes a step back during group discussions and then steps in to put it all together,” playing the part of both the “oldest member and leader” well during rehearsals. While all six have their own strengths, the members of TWS all share a desire “to care for one another and incredible passion, and have shown clear growth stemming from that."

The future of TWS
Ryu Jaehee says they wanted to use the performances supporting the group’s debut album as an opportunity to “have TWS be recognized for their talent and show off what makes the group uniquely appealing,” adding that, while TWS’s job requires an incredible amount of energy as it is and that, “right now, they have to work really hard on the task at hand,” they motivate themselves in the here and now by “actively discussing what it is they want to do, how they want to do it, and what they want to do next time, next year, and beyond.” Hae Su Lee agrees. “Now that TWS has taken their first steps, we’re confident they’ll only continue to improve significantly, and we’ll be working on energetic, exciting performances moving forward that everyone can enjoy.” And Ryu made one final promise about TWS: “When it comes to choreography, we won’t let people down, ever,” and that there’s “no need to feel nervous about their performances.” That gives us plenty of reason to look forward to the next encounter with TWS.