Winter Dance, or as most people know it, Turnabout, is coming up on February 20. At New Trier it seems like a big deal, people ask a month early, always talk about it in the halls, and worry about costumes if they are a junior or senior.

New this year to the dance is an inflatable laser tag room. Ms. Gitau, the sponsor of Global Exchange,the group that plans the dance, said “the past two or three years, we’ve had some kind of activity, and this year we are adding on to that tradition.” She added, “We like to keep it new and keep the students interested.”

Another addition is student’s IDs will now be used as tickets.

Junior Tommy Solberg said she is excited for Turnabout because “you can see what other groups themes are and their costumes.” Not one person mentioned the actual dancing as the part they were most looking forward to, which is not much of a surprise considering it is mostly a social event.

A lot of planning goes into the night to figure out everything to do before and after the dance. Large group chats are made with up to 40 people. Students sort out every detail, from the cost of a party bus, to where the after party will be.

Junior Charlie Keller is not even going to anything except the after party. He said “I’ve gone to Turnabout before, and the fun part is the after party, so this year I’m glad that’s the only part I’m doing.”

More people seem to be following this plan of forgoing the formalities of the dance. Charlie added, “the reason the after party is the best part is because the rest of the night has drama attached to it.”

Solberg said the drama comes from “not being settled with one person to go with, and trying to get everything together.” Most people ask their date casually by texting or in person, but have a plan to do a creative ask later on.

Juniors and seniors have themes for the dance, which is in contrast to sophomores and freshman who normally wear suits and dresses. Some themes people have mentioned this year are Oktoberfest, Harry Potter, Star Wars, S.W.A.T and sailers and mermaids.

Freshman Henry Freedman said “It’s frustrating having to dress up fancy, the dance isn’t a big deal and I don’t think freshman should have to act like it is.”

While Freedman doesn’t think the dance is a big deal, junior Eddy Bigelow disagreed. “For me, I’m excited about the dance, but for some people it’s a huge deal and can create a lot of drama in their lives.”

Usually the night of Turnabout (now Trevapalooza) consists of getting dressed up into either a costume or nice clothes, and heading to your group’s pictures.

Pictures are a time where parents can snap photos of their kids before the dance and where kids can find the perfect Instagram photo.

After pictures, most groups go to a dinner then finally head to the dance. Keller said “In my experience, at the dance most people walk around looking for their friends to talk to, while a few people dance by the stage.” He then added, “the actual dance is kind of a formality.”

Being at the dance is also a time to see friends not in “your group” and to check out other people’s costumes, but both Bigelow and Keller agreed the after party is the most fun part, and part of the drama that goes with the dance is finding someone to host the party.

For freshman who have never gone to a school dance, it is exciting to see what it is like. Freedman said: “while I don’t think [the dance] is a huge deal, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s it’s like and experiencing a dance for the first time.”

Whether you are a freshman or senior or you hate the dance or love it, it definitely affects life at New Trier.

As junior Aaron Peltz said “It’s not a big deal, but it’s kind of a big deal.”