A RENFREW schoolboy has described the chance to take centre stage on hit BBC show The Greatest Dancer as “the best experience ever.”
Ashton Bradley, a pupil at Trinity High, has been wowing judges on the TV talent contest as part of energetic troupe Dancepoint.
And the twinkle-toed 13-year-old is hoping readers of The Gazette will get behind him this weekend as he continues his bid for glory.
Ashton said: “The reaction from my family and friends has been amazing and the support has been absolutely incredible.
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“Everybody is so happy for me. My family are always buzzing to watch the show on the TV and my big sister is always putting me on her Instagram story. They’ve been really supportive.”
Ashton was just four years of age when he first began dancing.
He started off attending a freestyle class and, by the age of eight, his family was taking him to various workshops and breakdance battles.
The Street Stuff programme, which offers a range of activities to young people in Renfrewshire, also helped him to develop his skills.
Ashton told The Gazette: “When I’m dancing, I feel like I’m in my own wee world.
“It’s like a free space and I feel really happy.”
As Ashton’s passion for the art form grew, he turned his bedroom into a dance studio and watched YouTube videos to teach himself more techniques.
His proud mum Angela said: “Ashton has been dancing since he was wee boy, it’s all he’s ever wanted to do.
“That’s why we sent him to Robert Hamilton, the artistic director of Dancepoint, because we knew he would bring out his talent and now Ashton is loving life in the best dance school.”
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Ashton has been going from strength to strength since he joined Dancepoint 18 months ago and he plans to move to London when he is 16 to pursue a professional dancing career.
In the meantime, he is receiving rave reviews after Dancepoint reached the final seven in the TV contest.
They will be back in action this Saturday when the next episode is broadcast on BBC One at 7.05pm.
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