But this year was anything but normal. Nearly all of their members were afraid to attend rehearsals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of K-Move\u2019s dancers are students of color, and part of the group\u2019s mission is to create an inclusive and safe space for students and marginalized communities to connect and share their love for K-pop and dance. K-Move\u2019s practices usually take place at the university\u2019s Recreation and Wellness Center, located across the street from the Graduate hotel \u2014 then the site of protests over rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were lodging there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt makes a lot of sense as to why a lot of people weren’t comfortable,\u201d said Safiyya Muhammad, K-Move\u2019s president and a senior at the university. \u201cI personally also didn’t really feel comfortable being on campus. It took me a while, I would say at least the first few weeks of school, for me to fully be OK walking outside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammad joined K-Move as a freshman, and the group has been her main way to find community in college. Beyond preserving this connection, protecting the diversity of the group was top-of-mind for her as president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a hijabi myself, seeing a hijabi person on stage, I just know that there\u2019s little girls saying \u2018Oh, I can also dance too, and this is not against any rules or laws of who I get to be,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/KMOVE_02_Warne-Jacobsen-1024x768.jpeg\")
Combatting fear together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n K-Move\u2019s members were a microcosm of students on campus who did not feel safe leaving their homes at the height of Operation Metro Surge when federal agents filled the streets of Minneapolis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet like many other students and groups on campus during those weeks, K-Move found a way. The Spring Showcase, the group\u2019s most anticipated event, features live cover performances to K-pop songs that reflect a variety of dance styles and genres. It demands extensive preparation, and members usually spend months learning and refining the choreography \u2014 together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So from the start, the fear had to be combatted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Members began walking to and from practices together and made time to check in with each other regularly, Muhammad said. Those who felt comfortable going out offered to drop off groceries for their peers staying home. The result was a strong sense of unity and support among the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these routines remained after the federal agents left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we’re going to the same place or if anyone needs a ride, we’ll all carpool together, just to keep it a little bit more safe,\u201d Muhammad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flexibility was also key. Because so many of their members were reluctant to attend practices, especially in the evening, K-Move\u2019s leaders had to adjust their strict policy for missed showcase practices, Muhammad said. Members\u2019 safety needed to be the priority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One K-Move member, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns for her family’s safety, said she considered dropping out of the showcase entirely because attending practices felt unsafe. But Muhammad, along with the rest of K-Move\u2019s leadership team, created a feeling of safety and support early on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey always try to keep it lighthearted,\u201d the student said. \u201cThey always bring snacks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing to practice with her showcase group has been a welcome change of mood, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forgetting the world and finding joy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n K-Move\u2019s members come from many different backgrounds, but they all share an appreciation for K-pop and dance. While some have prior dance experience, others are new to the art form, and Muhammad said this is part of what makes the group special. Members do not have to have expertise to be welcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The group also needed to be a place where people could leave their worries behind and have fun together despite their fears, Muhammad said. Beyond group practices, K-Move hosted a random play dance event, where attendees performed dance choreography to K-pop songs on the spot, held at the RecWell during the height of ICE\u2019s activity in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a second we could forget about everything that was going on in the world,\u201d Muhammad recalled. \u201cIt was nice to just say, \u2018Hey, we’re here, right? And we’re not gonna let bad events dictate what we’re gonna do with our time and how we enjoy our time.\u2019 I think that was a very powerful message that I really wanted to send.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the group still felt a sense of unease, even after ICE agents left Minneapolis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s never really over,\u201d Muhammad said. \u201cI really want to say that there hasn’t been any everlasting impacts, but it’s very hard to say that when our whole world is changing around us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite everything, none of it will stop them from doing what they love. The K-pop cover group provides a space for UMN students to come together to find joy and forget the world during Operation Metro Surge. At the start of spring semester, members of K-Move, a K-pop cover dance group at the University of Minnesota, began planning for their biggest event of the year: the annual Spring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[22],"class_list":["post-443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles"],"authors":[{"term_id":22,"user_id":13,"is_guest":0,"slug":"warne820","display_name":"Wren Warne-Jacobsen","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c208157d98113f566725bfd75b5ea1ab5101d54b9e261734911f7ddca862017?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"Wren","last_name":"Warne-Jacobsen","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accessu.hubbardschool.org\/upended\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cSometimes the show has to go on,\u201d Muhammad said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"