Harry Shum Jr. Describes His Return to 'Glee' for the Cory Monteith Tribute

Reunions are only ever fun under the right circumstances, as we're sure the cast of "Glee" can attest.

When the current and former staff and students of McKinley High School reconvened recently to film an episode in homage to their former co-star Cory Monteith, who died of a drug overdose on July 13, we can't imagine it was an easy gathering.

"The whole gang is coming together to celebrate Cory and Finn for the third episode and pay tribute to him," Harry Shum, Jr. – aka Mike Chang – told Yahoo TV at the launch party for SEGA's "Go Dance" game. "[Shooting it was] just like what anyone would expect it to be: rough and difficult at times."

[Related: Cory Monteith on 'Glee' Photo Gallery]

But even through the roughness of the experience and the sadness that such an event had to exist in the first place, the 31-year-old dancer appreciated the camaraderie.

"I think it's good for all of us to be there together in this moment," he said. "We're in this room where we spent the last four and a half years together, so it's a great thing for us to just be there together. The writers did a great job writing that episode. It's a really great episode. Beautiful."

As he works through the mourning process, Shum is taking on a rather unexpected challenge: ballet.

"I actually just started taking ballet," he shared. "I'm used to that boom-boom beat moving fast, and ballet is just so therapeutic. It's all about technique and trying to flow. It's a whole new brain.

"I've always had a soft spot for Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and, especially, Gene Kelly, had a ballet background. That's where his foundation is, and I want to have that," he added. "I wanted to put that into my arsenal."

One thing he claims is not in his arsenal? Dance games like "Go Dance."

"I love it because I get a great workout when I play, but I'm not good," he insisted. "I see these other people and I'm like, 'Whoa! You don't dance for a living, but you're destroying this game.'"

We can't speak for his final scores, but we saw him play against Bella Thorne and Jamie Chung, and he pretty much slayed them.

"Glee" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Fox, premiering on September 26. The special Cory Monteith tribute episode is slated for October 10.