A MULTI-million pound dance centre that will be a centrepiece of the Ipswich waterfront has been given a £100,000 donation from a Suffolk couple.DanceEast received the cash from Debenham residents Martyn and Pippa Rose for its Red Shoe Appeal.

A MULTI-million pound dance centre that will be a centrepiece of the Ipswich waterfront has been given a £100,000 donation from a Suffolk couple.

DanceEast received the cash from Debenham residents Martyn and Pippa Rose for its Red Shoe Appeal.

The money will be used to fund the development of a new DanceHouse as part of the Cranfield's Mill development.

To mark the pair's generosity one of the four studios in the DanceHouse will be named after Sir Frederick Ashton - in memory of a friendship between Suffolk choreographer and Mr Rose's late mother, Margaret.

Assis Carreiro, director of DanceEast, said: “This donation is made in the spirit of the great pleasure that dance can bring and it brings that experience closer for many more people.

“Sir Fred loved Suffolk and was inspired by its landscape and it is fitting that as he lived in Eye and is buried in Yaxley, that he be remembered in the DanceHouse. We thank the Roses for their great generosity.”

The DanceHouse, which is due to open in autumn 2008, is the largest scheme of its kind in the east of England and will cost £7.2million - with £802,000 still to be raised.

It will deliver community dance projects to rural and urban communities, provide a centre for advanced training for dancers and support professional development.

Anthony Russell Roberts, Frederick Ashton's nephew and administrative director of the Royal Ballet, said: “I'm absolutely delighted that this generous donation will provide a studio named after him [Mr Ashton] in his beloved East Anglia - the birthplace of his parents and where he returned to live.”

Andrea Stark, executive director of Arts Council England East, said: “By supporting the development of a regional DanceHouse, this donation creates opportunities for the widest range of people to see the broadest choice of excellent dance.”