Those present in the Bryce Jordan Center in the dark, early hours of Saturday morning (between approximately 4 and 7 a.m.) may have looked on in wonder at the young man featured on the big screens pulling some seriously rad dance moves. Heck, if you saw him you might have even been one of the many people trying to mimic him.

We at Onward State had the opportunity to talk to Mike “Wiley” Barnes Saturday night. Wiley is an initiate of Alpha Kappa Psi and was at the BJC to support the fraternity’s dancers. And he has decided to support them, as well as the rest of the 708 dancers, by doing a little dancing of his own.

“Since the people dancing for THON have to be here for 46 hours, I’m going to be here as much as I can and I’ll dance 10 times as hard,” Wiley said of his inspiration for giving his all in the stands. He added that he was, in fact, the very first person in line before the doors opened for THON 2011.

Wiley, a freshman, has been dancing since he was four years old. He is trained in tap, jazz, modern, hip hop and ballet styles. In other words, he’s got the skillz that killz.

When his wicked moves first gained attention in the BJC, however, he admitted he was more than a little shy.

“I was embarrassed at first because I was dancing to ‘All the Single Ladies’ by Beyoncé,” he said.

His dancing caught the eye of a camera operator when fraternity members left to get concessions, leaving a large gap in which Wiley could break it down.

When the operator first aimed the camera at him, Wiley dove to the ground to avoid the spotlight.

“I yelled at him to get back up!” Rishi Mittal, Wiley’s friend, exclaimed.

And get back up is exactly what Wiley did. And the crowd loved him.

People throughout the crowd saw his art unfolding on the big screens and soon began trying to copy it. It’s true what they say — imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Wiley also broke down some of his favorite moves to use this weekend for Onward State:

• two fist pumps on each side
• follow that with a thrusting out of the hips and a spin
• then do a body roll all the way down and get back up

He also received a number of compliments from nearby admirers. And soon after, he was being grinded on by a green man and a blue & white man.

“A lady in front of me started shouting ‘Do the THON sign! Do the THON sign!’ So I did it,” he recalls. “And soon everyone else started doing it.”

Mittal was equally excited about his friend’s new-found following.

“Yeah, even two moralers started doing it right up front,” he said.

Is Mike Wiley a future THON dancer? Only time will tell.

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