A little about the Four Hundred Roses troupe.

'Four Hundred Roses' is a group of dancers from Leeds, Bradford, Keighley and surrounding areas. We first came together in late 2005 in a series of experimental workshops run to explore the possibilities of combining UK folk music and dance with Tribal style bellydance.

Tribal bellydance is a dance form that seeks to recreate a feel of a communal / ethnic dance form without belonging to any real-world ethnic grouping. The style originated in the US, it is less well know in the UK - where cabaret, solo-style bellydance is predominant - but its influence is growing. Tribal bellydance is strongly a group / collective dance form. It encourages groups (or 'Tribes') to develop their own ideas and to bring local elements into the dance mix to create a unique style.

Why the name? Choosing the name for a new venture is always tricky and it was something that gave us a real problem. At the time we were creating our first costumes and had already decided to use lots of red and white roses (particularly appropriate to the Yorkshire & Lancashire origins of the troupe) as part of our theme. The name was suggested as we had just purchased a bulk supply of 400 silk rose heads. Somehow it seemed to work - although at this stage we have far more than the initial 400!