Greatest Dancer launches Scottish Learning Festival

The 2019 Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) launch will feature the first ever winner of BBC’s The Greatest Dancer – Livingston schoolgirl Ellie Fergusson.

Solo contemporary dancer Ellie saw off dancers from across the UK to take out the £50,000 prize in the show, which aired earlier this year.

She described her time on the show as ‘the most amazing experience of my life’. 

Currently a S5 pupil at West Calder High School in West Lothian, Ellie’s dance will be a fitting start to the festival which this year has a strong focus on health and wellbeing, including a workshop that explores the effects of music on mood.

Ellie said: “I’m very excited and honoured to perform at the Scottish Learning Festival. I love the atmosphere of a big crowd, especially at such an important event.

“I am dancing to Technoblade by Benjamin Taylor as it is an unusual piece of music and one I have not heard before. I thought it was something that the band and I could perform well."

“As well as being impactful, the piece, to us, represents strength, passion, composure and determination.

“My dance really focuses on the musicality, hitting every accent in the music. This is a skill that all dancers need.”