He dances as if no one is watching, but suddenly lots of people are

He is on Euclid Avenue in front of the University of Kentucky’s emblematic Wildcat, dancing with impossible litheness to music no one else can hear.

The blocks beneath him are hard, but when Tayvis “Tayvho” (pronounced TAY-vo) Akpan’s feet, stomach and hands touch them they spring back like he’s dancing atop a goose down pillow.

He appears to move on a current of air, and those who pass him stop in the afternoon sun to watch and smile.

Akpan is developing a reputation across Lexington for spontaneously bursting into dance. Twice it happened at Fayette Mall. His descent into his own mind to bring forth the dance was such that he didn’t even notice people throwing $20 and $100 bills at him, Akpan said.

Lexington residents have videotaped and photographed him dancing across the city, at UK and on Nicholasville Road and Tates Creek Road.

Akpan, 19, a UK freshman in music production from Owensboro, prefers that no one call him “the dancing man” or “the dancing guy.” He doesn’t really consider what he does dancing, but more contemplative movement to music.

When you see him around town, and you probably will, just greet him, please, by saying, “Hey, Tayvho!”

He has long been a musician — he plays violin, guitar, keyboard and harp — as well as a cross-country runner. Somehow all that, and his faith in God, melded together when he arrived in Lexington and found himself a freshman and friendless. He had some tough days, and then something within him lifted up.

Akpan was at Fayette Mall getting ready to buy sporting goods, and he started to dance like no one was watching. In his mind, no one was.

“I didn’t know people were filming me until they showed me films,” Akpan said. “I just do it whenever I’m by myself, exploring Lexington.”

Lexington street dancers are the stuff of local legend. Every so often, someone will recount a tale of seeing “that Michael Jackson guy” who is one moment striding anonymously and the next pivoting his hips and zombie-stomping his feet in a moment straight out of “Thriller.”

Arex Biloli, a Tates Creek High School student waiting to go to work at UK’s Bowman’s Den nearby, sits on a rock, transfixed by Akpan’s two routines.

Willy Ndakize, Akpan’s friend, wanders up, busting into a grin: “I’ve seen him dance everywhere. I take a video everywhere I see him.”

“It’s awesome,” Akpan said of his exploration of movement and sound. “I’m using what I’ve got. ... I do it because it’s fun.”

His advice to others who are going through a period of adjustment: “Be who you want to be. Be who God has created you to be.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2018 at 10:15 AM with the headline "He dances as if no one is watching, but suddenly lots of people are."