英國“黑池舞蹈節”登陸中國

A British institution since 1920, the Blackpool dance festival this week decamped to Shanghai, bringing its sequinned glitz to China’s commercial hub as it pursues the country’s ballroom dancing market.

英國一項歷史悠久的賽事“黑池舞蹈節”(Blackpool dance festival)本週易地上海舉辦，把其耀眼的光芒帶到了中國的商業中心。黑池舞蹈節創立於1920年，目前正努力進軍中國國標舞市場。

“China is an emerging nation in ballroom dancing without a doubt. It’s a billion-dollar business,” said Michael Williams, managing director of Blackpool Entertainment, which operates the festival. “Given those numbers it seemed appropriate to come here”.

該舞蹈節運營方“黑池娛樂”(Blackpool Entertainment)的董事總經理邁克爾?威廉姆斯(Michael Williams)表示：“中國是一個正在崛起的國標舞市場，這點毋庸置疑。其商業價值達數十億美元。考慮到這些數字，來這裏似乎是正確的。”

From its origins in interwar Britain, the festival held annually in Blackpool’s rococo-style Empress Ballroom now attracts entrants from dozens of countries. Ballroom dance is popular throughout east Asia, and last year the Blackpool event saw more entrants from China than any other country.

黑池舞蹈節起源於兩次大戰之間的英國，每年在黑池（Blackpool，又譯爲布萊克浦）洛可可風格的皇后舞廳(Empress Ballroom)舉辦，如今有數十個國家的選手參賽。國標舞在整個東亞都很流行，去年黑池大賽上中國選手的數量超過其他任何一個國家。

The Shanghai event — the second held in China — saw contestants foxtrot, cha-cha and rumba in a suburban sports stadium normally used for basketball practice, with the addition of a proscenium arch and orchestra stage.

此次上海大賽是第二次在中國舉辦這一賽事，選手們在上海郊區一座通常用於籃球訓練的體育場館比賽狐步、恰恰恰和倫巴，該體育場館增設了一個舞臺口加樂池。

“The elements that we have brought are the Empress orchestra — it’s exactly the same set-up and music that we have in Blackpool,” Mr Williams added.

威廉姆斯補充說：“我們將皇后管絃樂隊這一黑池元素帶過來了，安排和樂曲與我們在黑池的完全一樣。”

China’s tech giant Alibaba live-streamed the Shanghai event online and is investing more than Rmb10m ($1.5m) a year “to promote the Blackpool brand in China”, said Will Wei, vice-president of the company’s subsidiary Alisports.

中國科技業巨頭阿里巴巴(Alibaba)在網上直播了此次上海大賽。阿里巴巴子公司阿里體育(Alisports)副總裁魏全民(Will Wei)表示，阿里巴巴每年將投入逾1000萬元人民幣（合150萬美元）“在中國推廣黑池品牌”。

He estimated that there were up to 80m ballroom dancers in China, with more than 100,000 at a competitive level. “Facing such a large market, Alisports will continue to attract the best intellectual property from around the world.”

他估計中國有多達8000萬名國標舞者，逾10萬人達到參賽水平。“面對如此龐大的市場，阿里體育將繼續吸引來自世界各地的最優質IP。”

Alibaba’s involvement highlights a trend of Chinese companies looking to bring foreign sporting competitions to China, typified by real estate conglomerate Wanda’s 2015 purchase of the Ironman triathlon event for $650m.

阿里巴巴的參與突顯出中國企業希望將外國體育賽事引進中國的趨勢，地產集團萬達(Wanda) 2015年以6.5億美元收購鐵人三項賽就是典型的例子。

Chinese companies have also been competing over live-streaming rights, with tech company Tencent announcing a deal with the NFL American football league this week. “More work with Alibaba will help massively with the marketing and publicity. The Blackpool brand appealed to them,” said the festival’s Mr Williams.

中國企業還在爭奪直播權，科技公司騰訊(Tencent)本週宣佈與美國國家橄欖球聯盟(NFL)達成交易。威廉姆斯表示：“與阿里巴巴加強合作將大大有助於營銷和宣傳。黑池品牌對他們有吸引力。”

Blackpool attracts 15m tourists a year but only a “small fraction” are Chinese, said Barrie Thompson of the China UK Business Centre North West. He said the city was seeking more Chinese investment. “It’s a tsunami coming and we want to channel it in the right direction”.

中英商務中心(China UK Business Centre North West)的巴里?湯普森(Barrie Thompson)表示，英國黑池每年吸引1500萬遊客，但只有“一小部分”是中國人。他說這座城市正在尋求更多的中國投資：“一場海嘯即將來臨，我們希望把它導向正確的方向。”

Backstage, where competitors from China, the US and Russia limbered up, some complained about the smaller scale of the Chinese competition. “The atmosphere is not quite the same as in Blackpool, there are not enough foreign competitors,” said Latin dance specialist Jason Jiao, 26.

在後臺，來自中國、美國和俄羅斯的選手做着熱身活動，有些人抱怨中國賽規模較小。26歲的拉丁舞蹈專家Jason Jiao說：“這裏的氣氛跟黑池不太一樣，外國選手不夠多。”

Alisports said 2,800 dancers from 25 countries competed, but the event was sparsely attended, with most seats empty and touts struggling to shift tickets outside the stadium.

阿里體育表示有來自25個國家的2800名舞蹈家參賽，但觀衆寥寥無幾，大部分座位都空蕩蕩的，票販子在場館外也很難出手門票。

“Shanghai Blackpool just started so it’s not very well promoted,” said Beijing-based ballroom enthusiast Andrew Gao, adding: “It’s new to China, but it will be one of the biggest competitions.”

北京國標舞愛好者Andrew Gao表示：“上海黑池纔剛剛起步，所以推廣做得不是太好。這對中國來說是個新鮮事物，但它會成爲最大的賽事之一。”